Global Americans has compiled the following resources, trainings, and tools for those studying disinformation, misinformation, and propaganda.
Resources for Identifying, Understanding, and Counteracting Disinformation:
A 2019 report that outlines the process of “source hacking,” and details how those actors engaged in actively manipulating the media can target journalists and other public figures, encouraging the further spread of misinformation and disinformation.
An overview of the European Commission’s strategies to combat the spread of misinformation and disinformation, including approaches described in models such as the European Union’s Code of Practice on Disinformation, the European Digital Media Observatory, and the European Democracy Action Plan.
A handbook produced out of a 2017 conference hosted by the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication, entitled “Understanding and Addressing the Disinformation Ecosystem.”
Research from one of the United Kingdom’s leading research universities that endeavors to explain why people around the world are susceptible to misinformation, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This site also provides information on the impact of misinformation and disinformation in the context of COVID-19 and how governments and citizens might proactively combat the further dissemination of misleading information in the context of future public health crises.
Rand Corporation: Tools that Fight Disinformation Online
A database, curated and maintained by the Rand Corporation, that hosts a total of 90 online resources designed to help individuals build their skills at identifying instances of misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda through a combination of readings, tools, and evaluations for a variety of written and visual media content.
An online resource, created and maintained by one of the world’s leading news agencies, that explains how media can be manipulated by malign actors, the threats posed by synthetic media content, and what citizens and governments can do to combat falsified information.
A collection of graphics outlining different strategies used by malign actors to spread misinformation and disinformation.
Two research studies, published in 2021 by UNESCO Montevideo, intended to provide regional analyses of instances of disinformation and hate speech in Latin America over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A summary of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) first “infodemiology” conference, held in 2020. The purpose of the conference was to discuss the “formation of a trans-disciplinary science that will underpin infodemic management and inform evidence-based infodemic management interventions.” The WHO defines an infodemic as “too much information including false or misleading information in digital and physical environments during a disease outbreak.”
Curricula and Trainings
An online library of training content including courses, toolkits, and other resources designed for public use and to assist journalists and citizens in improving their abilities to identify instances of misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda. This site includes various challenges, guides, and self-evaluations.
An online media literacy training, entitled “Learn to Discern,” designed to help trainees “develop healthy habits for engaging with information, online and offline.”
A resource center organized and curated by the nonprofit Poynter Institute for Media Studies that includes online education tools and courses designed to help users build their knowledge and skills in identifying misinformation and learn to carry out their own fact-checking processes.
A nonprofit organization that shares information and resources, designed specifically for educators, to produce better-informed citizens capable of evaluating information with the ability to distinguish facts from skewed and biased content. They provide a variety of online tools, including a quiz to help site visitors determine whether a given social media post is authentic and credible or false and misleading.
Fact-Checking Tools
A machine learning algorithm that evaluates the likelihood of a Twitter account being run by a human or by a bot. (A bot can be understood as a social media account that is at least partially operated by a software program, rather than by a human individual or group.) The Botometer algorithm gathers data from the Twitter Application Programming Interface (API) for the account in question and generates a score, with lower scores indicating a higher likelihood that a given account is human-operated.
A collaboration between fact-checking organizations such as the Poynter Institute and Spanish-language news broadcasters in order to combat misinformation and disinformation, originally designed for use during elections. This tool is notable for its emphasis on WhatsApp—a communications and media platform that is ubiquitous throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, the Latin American and Caribbean diaspora in the U.S., and Spanish-speaking communities in the U.S.—and its focus on promoting the dissemination of accurate information in the U.S. and Latin America.
An information visualization tool that allows the user to see how a given topic can spread on Twitter. This tool tracks how posts or stories shared respectively by low-credibility sources or by independent fact-checking organizations fare on the popular social media platform.
A fact-checking website that evaluates the information contained within a given post and places it within a range of verifiability (i.e., “No Evidence,” or “Missing Information”).
A library database containing various resources related to misinformation and disinformation, including scholarly articles, research studies, media publications, infographics, and trainings.
A website that allows users to upload written and visual content in order to receive its metadata. This metadata can enable users to access to more detailed information about the substance and origin of content produced by traditional and social media.
A database of over 3,000 media sources and journalists. Users can search organizations or individuals to receive information regarding the ways in which a given source might be biased, including levels of bias and degrees of factual reporting, with the highest ranking being “Very High,” and the lowest being “Very Low.”
A fact-checking website that verifies publications and posts that have been identified as containing or consisting of possibly questionable claims. It tags relevant items as being either “True” or “False”; or, in cases when there are different degrees of accuracy contained within a single post, “Mixture.”
A website that aids users in fact-checking information that they have encountered via social media and email. The Truth or Fiction research team will investigate the origins of a given piece to determine the accuracy, or lack thereof, of the information contained within.
A United Nations (UN) initiative launched in an effort to support and promote the dissemination of factual, critical information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and related topics. As such, the Verified website is a source that produces and shares COVID-19-related content based on the latest updates from the UN, the World Health Organization (WHO), and other UN agencies.
Image Verification
An image verification tool that allows users to upload images to determine how they might have been manipulated, in order to determine if the way in which such images are being shared is accurate and authentic.
An image search tool that allows users to upload images and conduct a reverse image search, enabling the user to see where the image appears on online and determine if it is being portrayed and used appropriately in the media.
Resources for Journalists
An automated fact-checking system available to the public. This Artificial Intelligence (AI) system is designed to automatically identify claims that are worthy of verification, then monitor the behavior of the claim and fact-check its content. Through this tool, users can register and request to track specific social media accounts.
Columbia School of Journalism in Latin America
The Columbia School of Journalism in Latin America offers several courses on investigative journalism, including an especially relevant module entitled, “How is investigative journalism changing to respond to populism, propaganda, and disinformation?”
The latest edition of the verification handbook, with a specific focus on disinformation and media manipulation. DataJournalism, the second handbook of its kind, was published by the European Journalism Centre with the goal of equipping journalists with the proper knowledge and tools to examine the information they receive and the sources from which they receive that information, in order to mitigate the spreading of misinformation, disinformation, and fake news.
Global Investigative Journalism Network
A database designed for journalists to find information on resources for their work, including grants and fellowships, trainings, and contacts. The toolkits, tips, and trainings provided on this website are designed to help equip journalists to be as effective and accurate as possible in their work.
Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) Academy
A collection of online courses designed to aid journalists in addressing topics pertaining to digital journalism, verification, investigative journalism, and more. This website also provides a collection of handbooks related to journalistic practices and regional challenges for reporters and researchers.
A handbook designed for journalists in order to further their knowledge regarding how to identify misinformation and fake news, developed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).