This past year we have been thinking and researching about the impacts of mis/disinformation on social justice work and activism.

There is growing evidence of human rights defenders, activists, and social justice organizations being targeted by disinformation campaigns. These campaigns hinder their work, spread distrust, tarnish organizational reputations, harm workers and disrupt information flows.

In our research on information ecosystems in Latin America and the Caribbean, we saw how mis/disinformation has sabotaged journalists and infringed upon organizations working hard to disseminate accurate information.

Our interviewees identified information disorder as an area that needs more funding and attention, especially for tools to pre-bunk and fact check. 

Climate misinformation and disinformation is on the rise 

Climate misinformation and disinformation are increasing risks to the climate movement and to efforts to slow down and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

While much research has been conducted on the phenomenon of climate misinformation and disinformation and how they delay climate action, there is less coverage of how organizations are targeted by, and how they are preventing and recovering from, climate-based disinformation attacks.  

Call for interviewees

As part of our work with the digital resilience network we have been looking into how disinformation campaigns impact social justice organizations and activists, and consequently how organizations are equipped to respond to harmful discourse.

We are hoping to improve our understanding of organizational needs when it comes to responding and recovering from these campaigns, in order to better support organizations who have been impacted by disinformation. 

We would love to talk to organizations — especially those working on climate — who have been targeted by disinformation campaigns or impacted by disinformation campaigns. In particular we are interested in: 

• Understanding how digital technologies are being used for disinformation campaigns. How does this impact organizations?
• Responses: If organizations are targeted by disinformation campaigns, how are they able to respond? Are their technology and data systems affected? What does recovery look like after these incidents?
• Preparation: If in their context disinformation campaigns are becoming common, are they able to anticipate and prepare? Are there any tools or techniques that could be helpful? 
• Support needs: If they are targeted with disinformation campaigns, how do they navigate this? What sort of support is needed? 

If you are a social justice organization or activist based in Africa or Latam and interested in participating in this research as an interviewee please fill out this short form. We are hoping to interview a small group of organizations from these two regions, before the end of 2024, to inform our future research and support initiatives. 

To make sure we are properly recognising the value of our interviewees’ time and knowledge, we will offer each of them a small stipend in appreciation of their contribution.

If you are interested in this topic and would like to learn more or collaborate, please reach out to olivia@theengineroom.org.