A report published today by the Council of Europe examines the way in which dis-information campaigns have become widespread and, heavily relying on social media, contribute to a global media environment of information disorder.
Whilst acknowledging that the direct and indirect impacts of “information pollution” are difficult to quantify, the report provides a conceptual framework and a structure for dialogue about information disorder by policymakers, legislators and researchers. It contains 35 recommendations to relevant stakeholders such as technology companies, national governments, media, civil society, and education ministries to help them identify suitable strategies to address the phenomenon.
The report “Information Disorder: Toward an interdisciplinary framework for research and policy making” was commissioned by the Council of Europe in response to the growing concerns in member states about the long-term implications of dis-information campaigns that are designed specifically to sow mistrust and confusion, and to sharpen existing sociocultural divisions by exploiting nationalistic, ethnic, racial and religious tensions.
The report was written by Claire Wardle, Executive Director of First Draft and Research Fellow at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, and writer and researcher Hossein Derakhshan.