Disinformation in the Global South

Herman Wasserman is Professor of Media Studies at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He holds a doctorate from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, and worked as a journalist before starting an academic career. He is a Fellow of the International Communication Association and Editor-in-Chief of the Annals of the International Communication Association and African Journalism Studies. Dani Madrid-Morales, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Journalism at the University of Houston’s Valenti School of Communication. He received his doctorate in Media and Communication from the City University of Hong Kong. His research focuses on the intersection of transnational media studies, global political communication, and disinformation studies in East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.

• Biographical Notes ixForeword xvGuy Berger, UNESCO Director for Strategies and Policies in the Field of Information and CommunicationSection 1 – Histories, Theories, and Methods 11 Contextualizing Fake News: Can Online Falsehoods Spread Fast When Internet Is Slow? 3Edson C. Tandoc Jr.2 Disinformation in Arab Media: Cultural Histories and Political Dynamics 15Saba Bebawi3 Manipulated Facts and Spreadable Fantasies: Battles Over History in the Indian Digital Sphere 26Sangeet Kumar4 Research Methods in Comparative Disinformation Studies 41Dani Madrid-Morales and Herman WassermanSection 2 – Cultures of Disinformation 595 Noise in Kinshasa: Ethnographic Notes on the Meanings of Mis- and Disinformation in a Post-Colonial African City 61Katrien Pype and Sébastien Maluta Makaya6 Aliens, Spies, and Staged Vandalism: Disinformation in the 2019 Protests in Chile 74Ingrid Bachmann, Daniela Grassau, and Claudia Labarca7 Encountering and Correcting Misinformation on WhatsApp: The Roles of User Motivations and Trust in Messaging Group Members 88Ozan Kuru, Scott W. Campbell, Joseph B. Bayer, Lemi Baruh, and Richard Ling8 “Rumor Debunking” as a Propaganda and Censorship Strategy in China: The Case of the COVID-19 Outbreak 108Kecheng Fang9 Media System Incentives for Disinformation: Exploring the Relationships Between Institutional Design and Disinformation Vulnerability 123Jose Mari Hall Lanuza and Cleve V. Arguelles10 Lies, Damned Lies, and Development: Why Statistics and Data Can No Longer Confront Disinformation in the Global South 140Jairo Lugo-Ocando and Alessandro MartinisiSection 3 – Responses: Southern Perspectives 15911 Online Misinformation: Policy Lessons from the Global South 161Anya Schiffrin and Peter Cunliffe-Jones12 Responses to Misinformation: Examining the Kenyan Context 179Melissa Tully13 How Three Mission-Driven News Organizations in the Global South Combat Disinformation Through Investigation, Innovation, Advocacy, and Education 193Nabeelah Shabbir, Julie Posetti, and Felix M. SimonConclusion 210Herman Wasserman and Dani Madrid-MoralesIndex 221

“If you are a media and journalism student, an academic across most disciplines, including the health sciences, or someone who works in the fact-checking or disinformation space, this book is highly recommended for you.” - Yossabel Chetty, The Centre for Analytics & Behavioural Change, August 8, 2022“All in all, the book is a very valuable contribution both to the field of mis- and disinformation studies and to communication research in the Global South.” – Global Media Journal, Vol. 13 No. 1 (2023): Spring/Summer 2023“One of the merits of this excellent book is that its contributors offer practical solutions on how the infodemic can be confronted, such as coordinated campaigns for media literacy.” - International Journal of Communication 17(2023), Book Review 2448–2451