Only careful WhatsApp use will boost African democracy

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Election Campaigns ◽  
Youth Engagement ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Personal Qualities ◽  
Party Support ◽  
Election Violence ◽  
Share Information ◽  
Opposition Parties

Subject WhatsApp and African elections. Significance WhatsApp has become one of the main ways that election candidates seek to communicate with voters because it is encrypted, easy to use and cheap. However, there is growing evidence that WhatsApp is used more to ‘decampaign’ rivals -- in many cases by distributing ‘fake news’ to smear their reputation -- than to share information about an individual’s personal qualities and manifesto. In recent elections in Kenya and Nigeria, the platform was also used to spread false stories about election violence that were designed to undermine voter turnout in certain areas, exacerbating political and ethnic tensions. Impacts The growing use of WhatsApp will make it easier for opposition parties and candidates with fewer resources to be electorally competitive. By creating opportunities for tech savvy people to play an important role in election campaigns, social media facilitates youth engagement. WhatsApp’s influence will inspire growing conflict between governments and digital rights activists and opposition parties over regulation. Cross-party support is greatest for pushing electoral commissions and the police to enforce more aggressively existing regulations online.

Freedom of expression may be stymied in India

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Free Speech ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Election Campaigns ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Bharatiya Janata Party ◽  
Cow Protection ◽  
Opposition Parties

Subject Attacks on India's media. Significance The gunning down of the journalist Gauri Lankesh on September 5 has revived concerns about free speech in India. More generally, critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are facing a backlash. Impacts In forthcoming election campaigns, opposition parties will claim rising intolerance of dissent under BJP rule. India’s states will come under pressure to curb the vigilantism of cow protection groups. Protests over legislation criminalising same-sex marriages are likely to increase.

Modi’s party will likely renew emphasis on caste

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Identity Politics ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
General Election ◽  
Gdp Growth ◽  
Election Campaigns ◽  
Economic Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Congress Party ◽  
Bharatiya Janata Party ◽  
Opposition Parties

Subject India's ruling party's likely election strategy emphasising caste. Significance Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was last week displaced from government in three of its heartland states by the main opposition Congress party, following elections. The poll results suggest a loss of support for the BJP among rural voters and Dalits (formerly regarded as ‘untouchables’). Ahead of the general election likely in April or May, party President Amit Shah is overseeing the BJP’s strategy. Impacts The BJP will highlight India’s robust quarterly GDP growth figures, claiming good economic management besides engaging in identity politics. Opposition parties could highlight the plight of Dalits working as manual scavengers as part of their election campaigns. Shah will likely be a future prime ministerial candidate for the BJP.

Honduras opposition will struggle against Hernandez

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Judicial Independence ◽  
Presidential Candidate ◽  
Election Campaign ◽  
Election Campaigns ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Presidential Candidates ◽  
Monitoring Process ◽  
Opposition Parties

Subject Pre-election politics. Significance On May 21, Salvador Nasralla was selected as the presidential candidate for a broad grouping of opposition parties seeking to challenge incumbent President Juan Orlando Hernandez in his attempt to win re-election in the November 26 polls. With the main presidential candidates now in place, attention will shift to the election campaigns themselves, where the opposition coalition may struggle to present a coherent agenda. Impacts An antagonistic election campaign will put an extra burden on the monitoring process. The election will be watched closely in neighbouring Guatemala, with which security co-operation has increased under Hernandez. Challenges to Nasralla’s candidacy may provoke criticism of the Supreme Electoral Court, heightening concerns about judicial independence. Given the Alianza’s anti-corruption stance, a major corruption scandal could prove an election gamechanger.

Critical reflections from the millennials on the global action against dementia legacy events

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 177-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristine Newman ◽  
Laura Booi
Keyword(s):  
Millennial Generation ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Canadian Context ◽  
Global Action ◽  
Future Direction ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Share Information ◽  
Critical Reflections

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to share information regarding the Global Action Against Dementia Legacy, to critically reflect on the views of the Canadian Young Leaders of Dementia and to strengthen the impact of their voices in the global discussion surrounding dementia. Design/methodology/approach – This offers a critical reflection and review of the innovative intergenerational discussions and solutions offered by younger Canadians – specifically, the Millennial Generation. Findings – The paper provides insights about how change and solutions in dementia actions may be established through intergenerational collaboration. Research limitations/implications – Researchers are encouraged to make room for the voices of younger, less established generations in both discussions and research related to dementia. The younger generations will provide future direction to the Global Action Against Dementia Legacy so it is time to hear their voice too. Originality/value – This paper draws on developments in the Canadian context to highlight the potential of encouraging a less-usual, intergenerational approach to developing engagement, research and solutions in dementia.

Fake News im Wahlkampf

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Flint
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Election Campaigns ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Forming Process ◽  
Private Companies ◽  
The Future

The urgency of regulating fake news on social networks regarding election campaigns is more evident than ever. This poses considerable difficulties for legislative practice. It is important to consider the fundamental rights of the parties involved without the state's influence on the formation of public opinion becoming too great. The current options of reacting to fake news do not suffice to ensure a free opinion-forming process. This publication makes an innovative proposal as to how social networks – especially Facebook – can be regulated in the future in such a way that the discourse is strengthened and the alarming influence of private companies on the formation of opinion is limited.

Uganda’s opposition will gain ground despite poll loss

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Youth Unemployment ◽  
National Politics ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Legal Challenges ◽  
The Government ◽  
Opposition Parties

Significance The opposition has rejected the results and is preparing legal challenges to Museveni’s victory. Impacts NRM internal cohesion will fray as Museveni becomes a more polarising figure in national politics. The NRM will increasingly try to co-opt opponents to neutralise the growing momentum and collaboration among opposition parties. The government will likely launch developmental efforts to tackle youth unemployment and thus avert unrest.

Online disinformation is greater risk for older users

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Senior Citizens ◽  
Rapid Evolution ◽  
The United States ◽  
Content Type ◽  
News Source ◽  
The Us ◽  
Older Users ◽  
Special Concern

Significance The growing numbers of senior citizens in the United States, their rapidly increasing adoption of social media and their high levels of voter turnout make their vulnerability to disinformation a matter of special concern. Other advanced democracies likely mirror the US experience. Impacts Older US adults' use of television as their primary news source may provide some bulwark against being targeted by disinformation online. The rapid evolution of news distribution technologies will challenge older adults used to a more slowly changing media landscape. Further research is necessary to determine the causes of age-based vulnerability and levels of resilience.

Fake news on Facebook: examining the impact of heuristic cues on perceived credibility and sharing intention

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Khudejah Ali ◽  
Cong Li ◽  
Khawaja Zain-ul-abdin ◽  
Muhammad Adeel Zaffar
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Perceived Credibility ◽  
News Credibility ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Active Processing

PurposeAs the epidemic of online fake news is causing major concerns in contexts such as politics and public health, the current study aimed to elucidate the effect of certain “heuristic cues,” or key contextual features, which may increase belief in the credibility and the subsequent sharing of online fake news.Design/methodology/approachThis study employed a 2 (news veracity: real vs fake) × 2 (social endorsements: low Facebook “likes” vs high Facebook “likes”) between-subjects experimental design (N = 239).FindingsThe analysis revealed that a high number of Facebook “likes” accompanying fake news increased the perceived credibility of the material compared to a low number of “likes.” In addition, the mediation results indicated that increased perceptions of news credibility may create a situation in which readers feel that it is necessary to cognitively elaborate on the information present in the news, and this active processing finally leads to sharing.Practical implicationsThe results from this study help explicate what drives increased belief and sharing of fake news and can aid in refining interventions aimed at combating fake news for both communities and organizations.Originality/valueThe current study expands upon existing literature, linking the use of social endorsements to perceived credibility of fake news and information, and sheds light on the causal mechanisms through which people make the decision to share news articles on social media.

What the fake? Assessing the extent of networked political spamming and bots in the propagation of #fakenews on Twitter

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Al-Rawi ◽  
Jacob Groshek ◽  
Li Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
News Discourse ◽  
Twitter Data ◽  
News Organizations ◽  
Twitter Users ◽  
One Year

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine one of the largest data sets on the hashtag use of #fakenews that comprises over 14m tweets sent by more than 2.4m users.Design/methodology/approachTweets referencing the hashtag (#fakenews) were collected for a period of over one year from January 3 to May 7 of 2018. Bot detection tools were employed, and the most retweeted posts, most mentions and most hashtags as well as the top 50 most active users in terms of the frequency of their tweets were analyzed.FindingsThe majority of the top 50 Twitter users are more likely to be automated bots, while certain users’ posts like that are sent by President Donald Trump dominate the most retweeted posts that always associate mainstream media with fake news. The most used words and hashtags show that major news organizations are frequently referenced with a focus on CNN that is often mentioned in negative ways.Research limitations/implicationsThe research study is limited to the examination of Twitter data, while ethnographic methods like interviews or surveys are further needed to complement these findings. Though the data reported here do not prove direct effects, the implications of the research provide a vital framework for assessing and diagnosing the networked spammers and main actors that have been pivotal in shaping discourses around fake news on social media. These discourses, which are sometimes assisted by bots, can create a potential influence on audiences and their trust in mainstream media and understanding of what fake news is.Originality/valueThis paper offers results on one of the first empirical research studies on the propagation of fake news discourse on social media by shedding light on the most active Twitter users who discuss and mention the term “#fakenews” in connection to other news organizations, parties and related figures.

scholarly journals Election Security and Violence in Ghana: The Case of Ayawaso West Wougon and Talensi By-elections

2020 ◽  
pp. 32-46
Author(s):  
Frank Bitafir Ijon
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
National Security ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Content Analysis Method ◽  
Security Challenges ◽  
The Government ◽  
Election Violence

Conducts of by-elections in recent times have been fraught with a lot of security challenges. This has been as a result of the violence that characterized the conduct of by-elections in recent times in Ghana. Violence during by-elections in Ghana plays a vital role in securing election victories for political parties. In all the by-elections characterized by violence in Ghana, they were won by parties that were accused of inciting the violence. The main tenets of election violence as identified by the paper included, actors, motives, timing, consequences, and patterns. The paper adopted the content analysis method in its investigation of the two violent by-elections in Ghana. The paper revealed that there was a correlation between violence during by-elections and victories of incumbent parties. This was because, in the two by-elections understudy, those accused of starting the violence and using national security operatives won the elections. The paper also found out that by-election violence impacted negatively on Ghana’s democratic maturity in several ways, such as; low voter turnout, weakening of democratic foundation and breeding an atmosphere of insecurity. Finally, the paper also revealed that political parties especially those in government resort to violence during by-elections in Ghana because they fear losing it will mean the government was underperforming as argued out by Feigert and Norris and also because they want to add to their tally in parliament.

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