Table Of ContentDisinformation and
Fake News
Edited by
Shashi Jayakumar
Benjamin Ang
Nur Diyanah Anwar
Disinformation and Fake News
“DisinformationandFakeNews isabookfullofinsightsfromtop-notchspecial-
ists on information operations. Over last several years, various regions of the
world have seen a spike in the use of information operations for geopolitical or
commercialreasons.Itiscriticaltogatherandcompareexistingknowledgeacross
regionsandsectorsinoneplace.Everybodyinterestedinthisfast-developingfield
should read this volume.”
—Jakub Janda, Executive Director, European Values Center for Security Policy,
Czech Republic
“As‘disinformation’hasbecomeacommonkeywordwidelyusedinpolitics,jour-
nalism and civil society, this volume invites readers to step back and consider it
asacomplex,multidimensionalphenomenon.Bybringingtogetherstudiesmade
by specialists from all over the world and from various disciplines, this volume
makes a useful contribution to the academic debate on the issue, grappling too
with the conceptual questions surrounding disinformation as a political, cultural
and technical issue. Decision makers and citizens seeking an up-to-date assess-
ment of what disinformation means for our societies and how we should (or
should not) counter it will also find within some very thought-provoking ideas
on how to deal with hybrid threats.”
—Kevin Limonier, Associate Professor in Slavic Studies & Geography at the
French Institute of Geopolitics (University of Paris 8), and Vice Director of
Geopolitics of the Datasphere (GEODE)
“Tackling a topic on the radar of every world leader, this book provides the
richness of global perspectives that understanding disinformation requires. For a
greater understanding of disinformation and how it operates, take a read.”
—Fergus Hanson, Director of the International Cyber Policy Centre, Australian
Strategic Policy Institute
· ·
Shashi Jayakumar Benjamin Ang
Nur Diyanah Anwar
Editors
Disinformation
and Fake News
Editors
Shashi Jayakumar Benjamin Ang
S. Rajaratnam School of International S. Rajaratnam School of International
Studies Studies
Nanyang Technological University Nanyang Technological University
Singapore, Singapore Singapore, Singapore
Nur Diyanah Anwar
S. Rajaratnam School of International
Studies
Nanyang Technological University
Singapore, Singapore
ISBN 978-981-15-5875-7 ISBN 978-981-15-5876-4 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5876-4
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer
Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights
of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and
retrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilarmethodology
now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc.
in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such
namesareexemptfromtherelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreefor
general use.
Thepublisher,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinforma-
tion in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither
the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with
respecttothematerialcontainedhereinorforanyerrorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeen
made.Thepublisherremainsneutralwithregardtojurisdictionalclaimsinpublishedmaps
and institutional affiliations.
Cover illustration: © Melisa Hasan
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature
Singapore Pte Ltd.
Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:152BeachRoad,#21-01/04GatewayEast,Singapore
189721, Singapore
Contents
Introduction
Disinformation & Fake News: Meanings, Present, Future 3
Benjamin Ang, Nur Diyanah Anwar, and Shashi Jayakumar
Overview of Disinformation
Disinformation as a Threat to National Security 23
Janis Sarts
Tools of Disinformation: How Fake News Gets to Deceive 35
Edson C. Tandoc Jr.
HowNewsAudiencesThinkAboutMisinformationAcross
the World 47
Richard Fletcher
v
vi CONTENTS
Disinformation in Context
Building Digital Resilience Ahead of Elections and Beyond 61
Donara Barojan
Fighting Information Manipulation: The French
Experience 75
Jean-Baptiste Jeangène Vilmer
Disinformation and Cultural Practice in Southeast Asia 91
Ross Tapsell
Hate Speech in Myanmar: The Perfect Storm 103
Alan Davis
Countering Disinformation
NATO Amidst Hybrid Warfare Threats: Effective Strategic
Communications as a Tool Against Disinformation
and Propaganda 117
Barbora Maronkova
Elves vs Trolls 131
Giedrius Sakalauskas
Fake News and Disinformation: Singapore Perspectives 137
Shashi Jayakumar, Benjamin Ang, and Nur Diyanah Anwar
Notes on Contributors
Benjamin Ang is a Senior Fellow with CENS. He leads the Cyber and
Homeland Defence Programme, which explores policy issues around
the cyber domain, international cyber norms, cyber threats and conflict,
strategic communications and disinformation, law enforcement tech-
nologyandcybercrime,smartcitycyberissues,andnationalsecurityissues
in disruptive technology.
Nur Diyanah Anwar is pursuing her Ph.D. at the National Institute of
Education(NIE),NTU.Previously,shewasaSeniorAnalystwithCENS.
Her research interests revolve around identity issues, multiculturalism,
education, social policies, inequality, and the relations between state and
society.
Donara Barojan is a strategic communication and information warfare
expert. She currently works at a London-based strategic communica-
tions company Zinc Network, where she leads an independent media
support project in the Baltic states. Prior to joining Zinc Network,
she worked for the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excel-
lence and the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, where
she served as an Assistant Director for Research and Development. Ms.
Barojan’s commentary and research were featured by numerous media
outlets, including the New York Times, BBC, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera,
Reuters, The Economist, and others. Donara frequently runs training
workshops on identifying, analysing, and countering disinformation and
vii
viii NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
extremist narratives. To date, she has trained nearly 1000 researchers,
journalists, and strategic communication experts.
Alan Davis is Asia & Eurasia Director at the Institute for War &
Peace Reporting and also currently works as the Chief of Party on two
Global Engagement Center-funded projects focusing on disinformation.
He has designed and led media, confidence-building, civil society and
strategic communications’-based programs in more than 40 countries—
from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe: Iran to North Korea: He has a partic-
ular interest in combating corruption through multi-sectoral public fiscal
literacy-building projects and working with and inside closed states: For
four years he worked as a media advisor to DFID focusing on Russia
and the Former Soviet Union and was recently made an Associate Fellow
andtheKing’sCollege-basedInternationalCenterfortheStudyofRadi-
calism in London. Since 1989 when he first visited Cambodia to report
on the Vietnamese troop withdrawal for the UK media, his primary area
of interest has been South East and East Asia.
Richard Fletcher is a Senior Research Fellow and research team leader
at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of
Oxford.
Shashi Jayakumar is Head, Centre of Excellence of National Secu-
rity (CENS) and Executive Coordinator, Future Issues and Technology,
at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang
Technological University (NTU), Singapore.
Jean-Baptiste Jeangène Vilmer is the Director of the Institute for
Strategic Research (IRSEM, French Ministry of Defense) and a non-
resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, Washington, DC. He
servedpreviouslyasaPolicyofficeron“SecurityandGlobalAffairs”atthe
Policy Planning Staff (CAPS) of the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs,
a Banting postdoctoral fellow at McGill University’s Faculty of Law, and
a Lecturer in international relations at the Department of War Studies
of King’s College London. Holding degrees in philosophy (B.A., M.A.,
Ph.D.),law(LLB,LLM),andpoliticalscience(Ph.D.),heistheauthorof
someonehundredarticles,twentybooks,andtworeportsondisinforma-
tion: Information Manipulation (CAPS/IRSEM, 2018) and The Macron
Leaks Operation: A Post-mortem (IRSEM/Atlantic Council, 2019).
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS ix
Barbora Maronkova joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO), Public Diplomacy Division in Brussels, Belgium in 2006 as
program coordinator where she designed, planned, and implemented
public diplomacy campaigns in a number of NATO member states. As of
September2010,sheadvisedseveralcandidatecountriesontheirnational
public awareness campaigns on NATO membership. From January to
December 2016, she worked for the office of NATO’s Spokesperson.
As of 1st March 2017, she holds the position of Director of NATO
Information and Documentation Centre in Kyiv, Ukraine. In 2003, she
established and headed a Slovak based NGO Centre for European and
North Atlantic Affairs to contribute to public and academic debate on
Slovakia’s membership to the EU and NATO. Her work included public
relationsandmediaappearances,publicspeaking,donorsandstakeholders
relations as well as the management of the NGO.
A graduate of the University of Economics of Bratislava, Slovak
Republic,BarboraalsoholdsaPublicAffairsdiplomafromtheChartered
Institute for Public Relations in the UK. She served as a non-resident
Research Fellow with the Centre on Public Diplomacy, University of
Southern California. Barbora is a frequent contributor and speaker on
topicsofstrategicandgovernmentcommunicationsandpublicdiplomacy.
Giedrius Sakalauskas istheDirectorofResPublica.Hegraduatedfrom
University of Vilnius/Institute of International Relations and Diplo-
macy in 1995. He has worked in various industries including adver-
tising,entertainment,e-commerce.Since2014,hehasbeenacivicactivist
coordinating cyber-resistance movements countering Kremlin trolls, in
confronting and debunking hostile propaganda to develop the resilience
of society.
Janis Sarts is a Director of the NATO Strategic Communications
CentreofExcellence(Riga),—amultinational,cross—sectororganisation
providingcomprehensiveanalysis,adviceandpracticalsupportinstrategic
communications to the Alliance and the allied nations. Prior to that, he
has been the State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, Latvia for seven
years,—leading defence sector reforms during an economic crisis period,
developinganewstatedefenceconcept,andencouragingregionaldefence
cooperation within NATO and the EU. He has also led the Latvian
Government’s efforts to increase its security and defence in cyberspace.
As Chair of the National Cyber Security Board, he was responsible for
formulating and overseeing the implementation of Latvia’s cyber security
x NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
policy, as well as for overseeing the work of the National Information
Technology Security Incident Response Institution—CERT.LV.
J¯anis Sa¯rts holds a degree in History from the University of Latvia,
has graduated from the NATO Defence College and has interned at
the Swedish Defense Research Agency. He has received numerous state
awardsforhiscontributiontodefencereforms,fosteringLatvia’smember-
ship to NATO and hosting the NATO Summit in Riga.
Edson C. Tandoc Jr. (Ph.D., University of Missouri) is an Associate
Professor at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Infor-
mation at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. His research
focusesonthesociologyofmessageconstructioninthecontextofdigital
journalism. He has conducted studies on the construction of news and
social media messages. His studies about influences on journalists have
focused on the impact of journalistic roles, new technologies, and audi-
encefeedbackonthevariousstagesofthenewsgatekeepingprocess.This
streamofresearchhasledhimtostudyjournalismfromtheperspectiveof
news consumers as well, investigating how readers make sense of critical
incidents in journalism and take part in reconsidering journalistic norms;
andhowchangingnewsconsumptionpatternsfacilitatethespreadoffake
news.
Ross Tapsell is a Senior Lecturer at the Australian National University’s
CollegeofAsiaandthePacific.HeisauthorofMediaPowerinIndonesia:
Oligarch, Citizens and the Digital Revolution and coeditor of the book
Digital Indonesia: Connectivity and Divergence.
