The Global Story of Election Interference Backgrounder With the growing power of social media over the past two decades, the character of democratic societies has changed significantly. Great opportunities have arisen for more diversity of opinion, participation and exchange of information, but also risks and tendencies toward subversion, which have been exploited by Authoritarian regimes have around the world. By Olaf Boehnke and Carlo Zensus
“We want to deter politicians from spreading false information” Interview A conversation with Noa Barak about disinformation and the role of fact-checkers in Israel.
"Policymakers need to empower people to make good decisions online" Interview A conversation with Dr. Philipp Lorenz-Spreen about cognitive patterns, heuristics and the role of policymakers in designing healthy online choice environments.
“Legal tools to suppress disinformation can do more harm than good” Interview A conversation with Dr. Henning Lahmann about disinformation, free speech and the potential opportunities and pitfalls of legal tools in addressing the challenges to democracy in the digital age.
"Disinformation becomes detrimental to democracy if political elites employ it deliberately and strategically" Interview A conversation with Alexander Sängerlaub about the digital transformation of the public sphere, its consequences for democracy and the role of education and media literacy in fostering democratic resilience in the digital age.
Fighting disinformation and the question of origin Commentary This commentary critically assesses current trends in online media control in liberal democracies. It argues that protecting society against disinformation campaigns has become a prevailing and increasingly successful legitimatory strategy for governmental restrictions on the free flow of information. By Wolf Schünemann
"In dealing with disinformation, many different things need to come together" Interview A conversation with Dr. Julian Jaursch about the potential of platform regulation in Germany and the EU in addressing disinformation and fostering democratic principles in the digital public sphere.
"We should focus on reaching the ones who are most vulnerable to disinformation" Interview A conversation with Rebecca Winkels from Science in Dialog about the importance and strategies of building bridges between the science community and all parts of society, in Germany and beyond.
Where does Israel stand among EU countries in terms of its citizens' resilience to misinformation? Spotlight As dis- and misinformation continues to surge around the ongoing pandemic and the vaccines, citizens' trust in democratic institutions is constantly put to the test. This Spotlight explores the various factors that account for a country's level of resilience to mis- and disinformation via the prism of the Media Literacy Index (MLI) and integrates the case of Israel for the first time into the analysis. By Marin Lessenski
"The pandemic has put a magnifying glass on misinformation” Interview A conversation with Dr. Ayelet Baram-Tsabari about science communication and its role in facilitating dialog with insular communities in Israel.