Jacqueline B. Husary, MSc, MA’s Post

📌 Dr. Oleg Maltsev’s story is not just the tale of a Ukrainian scientist. It’s the story of a man whose groundbreaking research and independent spirit have faced relentless, coordinated attacks. From sudden investigations to public discrediting and a well-timed arrest just after announcing the completion of Maltsev's book on war crimes, the sequence of events raises serious questions. The main question is: Are these just random occurrences, or is there something more calculated behind them? Let us examine the case of Dr. Oleg Maltsev in detail, mapping out the sequence of events in chronological order. #FreeUkrainianScientist https://lnkd.in/eevqP4WQ

Wikipedia is NOT a trusted source

Think Wikipedia is a neutral, reliable source? Think again. Wikipedia’s pro-Hamas editors have systematically hijacked the Israel-Palestine narrative, distorting facts to fit their agenda. These editors aren’t rogue individuals - they’re part of a coordinated effort to manipulate history. They downplay Hamas’s atrocities, frame terrorists as “freedom fighters,” and perpetuate false claims about Israel. Wikipedia’s model has been exploited by radical ideologues who work together to control narratives. The result? A platform that millions trust is now rife with misinformation and bias, especially on sensitive topics like the Israel-Palestine conflict. Wikipedia isn’t just failing to uphold its promise of neutrality but actively enabling those seeking to rewrite history. Trustworthy information is the cornerstone of democracy and informed decision-making. If Wikipedia won’t protect that, we must question its role in shaping public understanding. #WikiWashing

Such an interesting approach to misinformation. Spent last 15 years of the educational projects focusing on developing programs that foster critical thinking, always thinking that the lack of knowledge was the "real problema" - and only just 2 years ago to realize that this is not sufficient. Start re-thinking that it is not only about the individual actions of the individuals, but also about the global efforts of fighting (mis) (mal) (dis)information. This article articulates a different perspective into a global problem that will only expand... the public arena is out there to respond back!

Great Talk today in the Canadian Embassy: Facts under attacks with Katharina Nocun, Stephen LaPorte, Louis Germain and Christian Humborg. ✅ Let people assess information from the source themselves (Amb John Horgan) ✅ #Disinformation is part of #Propaganda, but also a huge money machine. We need to educate about the 84 strategies of propaganda. Feeling of no control creates need for a plan, for feeling special - conspiracy myths serve these needs. Platforms need to start earlier stopping malicious actors spreading false content (Nocun) ✅ Collective responsibility for fighting disinformation, education is key, #Wikipedia read/ write helps. Trust in science has to be preserved. Good #journalism is important (Germain) ✅ Wikipedia independence becomes increasingly important - WHO collaboration worked because of the shared goal getting facts to people (LaPorte)

It’s time to set the record straight. The Wikipedia board must be held accountable for allowing the spread of misinformation and falsehoods. There are two possible paths forward: the first is to correct the mistakes and issue an apology; the second is to face a loss of credibility, which will expose bias and blatant antisemitism. It is time to correct the narrative, or people will stop trusting Wikipedia, reducing it to just another failed platform.

Quite an eye-opening read on how 🇷🇺 and 🇧🇾 proxies are stepping up their #disinformation game to undermine civil society. They are twisting facts, spreading misleading stories, and using state media to prop up the government while discrediting independent voices. Worth remembering, it’s not just happening in Belarus - these tactics are popping up across the region to weaken NGOs and civil society groups. Understanding these info ops is crucial if we want to push back and protect the #truth. The article details the DISARM methodology, which is a good-enough tool for spotting and analyzing these disinformation efforts. For those investing in #democracy and the civil society, this is a must-read. #Disinformation #CivilSociety #Russia #Belarus #InfoOps

.From @conflictechoes on Instragram "I can imagine an American rejecting giving 10% of the United States to the Palestinians. And if that rejection leads to war and you lose half your country, I doubt that 50 years from now, you're going to say, well, maybe I should have accepted that. " Mouin Rabbani is an expert in Palestinian affairs, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the contemporary Middle East. He is a co-editor of Jadaliyya, an online magazine which offers insights and critical analysis on the Middle East. He co-edited the book Aborted State? The UN Initiative and New Palestinian Junctures with Noura Erakat. The book analyses the Palestinian UN initiative from multiple perspectives, including strategy and leadership, international law and statehood, US foreign policy, and representation. In this extensive interview, Norman Finklestein, Benny Morris, and Steven Bonnell, aka Destiny, appear on the Lex Fridman podcast. They discuss many issues regarding Palestine and Israel, ranging from the creation of Israel in 1948 to future opportunities for peace. In this clip, Mouin Rabbani discusses why Palestinians rejected the UN’s 1947 partition of their land.

Today for my “Disinformation in the Digital Age” course, we’re focused on the Middle East and Iran. “A Brief History of Iranian Fake News” by Ariane M. Tabatabai, Ph.D. explores the history driving Iranian disinformation and their long recognition of the “utility of fake news.” The most interesting aspect was the emphasis on how Iranian leadership both rejects and needs social media and messaging platforms like Twitter and WhatsApp. While banning them domestically, key officials also use these platforms to disseminate disinformation in multiple languages with a global audience. Supported by a network of accounts linked to or supportive of the regime, this disinformation is able to spread and gain traction. Iran, and other authoritarian regimes like Russia and China, are able to get “the best of both worlds.” They block their own citizens from participating in these democratic town squares while exploiting corporations’ engagement-fueled algorithms to foment feelings of distrust and disenfranchisement in the citizens of their adversaries. #Disinformation

For today's class on Disinformation in the Digital Age, we explore how Russia uses disinformation in the modern era as technology has progressed and evolved so have Russia's methods of spreading disinformation online. We learned about the Internet Research Agency, an organization within St. Petersburg that employs individuals to spread propaganda online and feed into disinformation. These online trolls are responsible for promoting pro-Russian posts. On the other hand, they are tasked with creating fake accounts and spreading false narratives that could be damaging not only to Western nations but also to opposition leaders within Russia, independent news outlets, and independent journalists as well. In an article by Adrian Chen of the NYT, he says: "Russia’s information war might be thought of as the biggest trolling operation in history, and its target is nothing less than the utility of the Internet as a democratic space." Russia actively seeking to disrupt democracy is nothing new, but providing false narratives online, creating thousands of bots to flood out real voices and confuse the masses is something we should be actively concerned about. Being aware of such tactics and promoting media literacy are crucial steps towards safeguarding democratic values. #NYT #SUinDC #Media