Propaganda

Smartphone with chat bubbles and a check-mark shield icon, indicating secure messaging.

End-to-end Encryption for Messaging Apps: Importan...

The Propaganda Research Lab at the Center for Media Engagement (CME), in collaboration with Omidyar Network, hosted a RightsCon 2022 session on encrypted messaging apps (EMAs) and their global use for political propaganda, mis- and disinformation, activism, and news Read More
End-to-end Encryption for Messaging Apps: Important for Whom, How and What’s its Future?
Documents, light bulb, magnifying glass, shield, and info icon represent research and protection.

Solving Questions of Digital Literacy Through Comm...

The Center for Media Engagement explores how public interest principles can be incorporated in social media to combat mis-information in larger communities. Read More
Solving Questions of Digital Literacy Through Community-Based Approaches
Surveillance concept: eye, camera, person with laptop, circular design.

How Digital Surveillance Deters Protest Participat...

This piece provides insights into the ways in which protests are surveilled and outlines two main issues with the practices: (1) general problems with the collection of personal data at protests, and (2) the problematic ways in which protest coverage is used toward political ends. Read More
How Digital Surveillance Deters Protest Participation
Silhouette of Kenya with a virus symbol inside.

​​Three Ways COVID-19 Affected Kenyan Media and Ho...

In the case of COVID-19, disinformation can occur when there is an intention to create a different viewpoint from that of vetted healthcare officials and authorities regarding the disease’s status, spread, prevalence, and management. While this phenomenon has been heavily studied in the U.S. and many European countries, parts of… Read More
​​Three Ways COVID-19 Affected Kenyan Media and How the Country is Trying to Counter the Fallout
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Geolocation Surveillance Roundtable

The University of Texas at Austin’s Center for Media Engagement and the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.) hosted a roundtable about mass surveillance in the age of mass protest. We analyzed how electronic surveillance is used to monitor political protest, mass gatherings, and how location tracking enables microtargeting of propaganda… Read More
Geolocation Surveillance Roundtable
Crowd of diverse individuals holding signs at a sunny outdoor protest.

Police could Be Scanning Your Social Media From a ...

Protests following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, continue to seize national and global attention. Videos of peaceful protestors demanding justice and rioters setting businesses ablaze have provided two seemingly different narratives of the summer’s intense social activism. There have been protests in at least 1,700 cities across… Read More
Police could Be Scanning Your Social Media From a Summer Protest to Make an Arrest