Impact of Online Disinformation on Fragile Democracies like Georgia
Online disinformation and fake news pose a significant threat to fragile and unconsolidated democracies like Georgia, leading to the erosion of human rights, challenges to freedom of speech, and the spread of fake narratives. The lack of robust fact-checking mechanisms and the presence of inauthentic coordinated behavior further exacerbate the situation, with various categories of disinformation circulating online, impacting societal cohesion and political discourse.
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What are the effects of online What are the effects of online disinformation and fake news on a disinformation and fake news on a digital society in a fragile and digital society in a fragile and unconsolidated democracy like unconsolidated democracy like Georgia? Georgia? NINA SHENGELIA NINA SHENGELIA CAUCASUS INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY CAUCASUS INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
Disinformation: Erosion of Human Rights Disinformation: information that is false, and the person who is disseminating it knows it is false. It is a deliberate, intentional lie, and points to people being actively disinformed by malicious actors. - UNESCO s 2018 Handbook of Journalism & Disinformation Disinformation gets six times more likes, shares, and interactions on the platform compared to posts from more reputable news sources Freedom of Speech vs. Other Human Rights Fragile Democracies: Case of Georgia Freedom on the Net Report 2020: Georgia is the most democratic out of its neighbors which includes Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey and Russia Remaining Risk of censorship
Fact-checking: Double Standards Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Irene Khan: Fact-checking services are more limited in many parts of the world. A thorough understanding of the local political, social and economic context, language proficiency and close cooperation with civil society in countries where disinformation is more prevalent are necessary.
Inauthentic Coordinated Behavior Report: Data Inauthentic Coordinated Behavior report April 2020: 511 pages 101 profile accounts 122 groups 56 Instagram accounts associated with EsPersona pages managed by pro governmental ex-journalist. 23 profile accounts 80 Facebook pages 41 groups 9 Instagram accounts associated with the opposition party, the Nationalist Party.
Categories of Online Disinformation 1stof September to 23 November 2020, 73 pages have been studied. 5,882 posts had user interaction (shares, comments and reactions) of 2,517,772. 9 categories of disinformation have been identified: nationalistic (30%) anti-liberal (19%) anti-Western (11%) homophobic (9%) conspirative (7%). xenophobic (6%), Islamophobic (3%)
Fake Narratives Turkey is an occupier . Georgia is under risk of Islam replacing Orthodox church Georgia s strategic partners are not assisting Georgia but actually using it to further their own interests . NATO is using Georgia against Russia Covid 19 was born in Lugar Lab Being member of LGBT community means you are not Christian and not loved by GOD
Pages Spreading Disinformation We love our motherland and National Front of Georgia supporting aggressive right wing party, Georgian March. Anti-liberal Doctrine and Republic : supporting one of the most pro-Russian parties in Georgian parliament Alliance of Patriots of Georgia . Alt-Info and Alpha-Dominant : criticized Georgian Parliament for adopting gender quotas as part of the electoral reform.
Failures of Content Moderation Due to lack of knowledge of local context, Facebook algorithms at times fail to remove disinformation. Georgian fact-checking organizations: It has been highlighted that individual comments, no matter how fake, almost never get deleted on the basis of reporting. It is only groups/pages that spread disinformation that seem to fall under the category of Inauthentic Coordinated Behavior . Med Guide: Covid 19 Help Group got deleted twice.
Global Corporate Governance Erosion of state sovereignty has been caused by: Lack of technical knowledge (Judiciary, Legislators) Incapability of control Collapse of public and private distinction Globalization Global corporate governance Elimination of physical borders Lack of Enforcement Mechanism Outdated legal instruments: Disinformation, content visibility, algorithmic discrimination is not something that traditional constitutional framework is designed to understand
Recommendations Media literacy is one of the main mechanisms in battling disinformation Decentralization of content moderation Setting up a Social Media Council, multi stakeholder decision making body Involvement of More Fact Checking Organizations
