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propagandalatest news & developments

Come elections, critical thinking skills are key to fighting fake news

As 29 May approaches, we must find a way to separate the wheat from the chaff

Vector illustration

Combating deliberately wrong information that intends to mislead and misinform in an election year is a civil duty

Combating deliberately wrong information that intends to mislead and misinformation in election year is a civil duty

The swastika

Silencing the lambs: John Pilger on how propaganda works

If we want to avoid seeing the world through an imperial one-way mirror in which “we” are moral and benign and “they” are not, we must extract ourselves from the submissive void…

A woman walks a dog past the so-called “people’s installation to a Russian soldier” nicknamed the “polite people” created by residents in the backyard of their apartment building in the town of Podolsk, outside Moscow, on March 28, 2022. (Photo by Yuri KADOBNOV / AFP)

Twitter moves to limit reach of Russian government accounts

‘We will not amplify o government accounts belonging to states that limit access to free information and are engaged in armed interstate conflict,’ the social network said

TotalEnergies (formerly known as Elf, and then Total) was, in 1971, aware of the harmful effects of global warming caused by burning fossil fuels. (Photo by Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Total knew it was fuelling climate change since the 1970s

New scientific research shows the oil company understood the science before it became a public issue and spent millions to promote misinformation

The most effective way to mitigate the negative effect of fake news without neutering WhatsApp’s capacity to strengthen democracy is through digital-literacy campaigns. (Photo by Luis Tato/AFP via Getty Images)

Is WhatsApp shaping democracy in Africa?

A study shows that the social messaging platform is both emancipatory and destructive, particularly during election campaigns

Meet Katoto, Museveni’s big fan

The TV cartoon character — think Homer Simpson meets Robin Hood — with added propaganda

“China hasn’t invaded Africa, doesn’t appear to be involved in political destabilisation, and is probably less economically manipulative than, say, the European Union or Brazil,” writes the author. (Reuters)

Don’t attack the Chinese — learn from their example

By labelling China as a colonial threat, Zambian historian Sishuwa Sishuwa is helping its enemies

(Luis Tato/AFP and Mohammed Elshamy/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

WhatsApp: Cibiyar farfaganda a lokacin zaben Nijeriya

Kafofin sada zumunta sun taka muhimmiyar rawa a zaben Nijeriya da ya gabata.

(Luis Tato/AFP and Mohammed Elshamy/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Nigeria’s ‘propaganda secretaries’

Social media and fake news played a big role in Nigeria’s general election.These online entrepreneurs make a living from it

An armed policeman searches for Al-Shabab gunmen during the deadly Westgate shopping mall terrorist attack in Nairobi in 2013.

Why Al-Shabab targets Kenya— and what the country can do about it

Kenya faces a serious threat of terrorist attacks given its strategic geopolitical position, its tourism and corruption

The swastika

Hitler imagery in Thai junta propaganda film sparks outrage

The short film commissioned by the junta has left people outraged and baffled after the seemingly harmless video showed images of Adolf Hitler.

Sabbir Alam of Bangladesh in his tuckshop in Meqheleng near the Ficksburg border post. (File photo: Thulani Mbele/Sowetan/Gallo images)

Leave the children alone: Thais reject junta’s new behavioural code

An additional round of patriotic propaganda has been added to the Thai school curriculum.