Global tidbits
I’ve recently been collaborating with First.org to provide training and advice for some of their member organisations on how to understand and combat disinformation as it relates to their work in cybersecurity.
As part of this project, I brought my friend and colleague, Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa, on board to provide landscape research on the disinformation challenges for two specific countries: Malawi and Trinidad and Tobago.
His research was (as always) incredible, complex and thoughtful. I’ve spent the last few weeks absorbing the dynamics of trust, power and information in two contexts that couldn’t be more different from Aotearoa, or one another.
Here are a few things I found super interesting:
While only 14% of Malawians regularly use the Internet, they haven’t been spared from the impacts of disinformation. This is a great example of how the issue isn’t simply tied to technology. False information that might start online can easily spread offline through word-of-mouth, especially in highly connected communities, and the social and interpersonal factors of spreading false information aren’t something you can moderate, delete or switch off at the wall.
People in Trinidad and Tobago love satire (especially ribbing politicians and people in power). During COVID, this led to some genuinely effective primary prevention of conspiracies through comedians and radio DJs creating funny skits about not believing everything you hear online, and making conspiratorial thinking a bit embarrassing and uncool. This is the opposite of a heavy-handed, top-down approach, and I adore it.
The Nicki Minaj’s Cousin’s Friend’s Balls Incident unfortunately lives on as a cause of vaccine hesitancy in the region. (If you’d also forgotten that this happened, you’re welcome.)
