In the wake of recent fuel protests, a more silent and systemic threat has emerged. @aidanobrien.bsky.social, an analyst at @edmoireland.bsky.social at DCU, has uncovered a sophisticated "disinformation economy" surrounding the events. Read more via @independent.ie: launch.dcu.ie/3OCJ6K2

On January 14, Dr Eileen Culloty, Co-director of EDMO Ireland spoke in front of the Oireachtas (Irish Parliament) committee on Arts, Media, & Communications, on the subject of Media Literacy and Platform Regulatory enforcement. Watch the full session here. www.oireachtas.ie/en/oireachta...

Dr Eileen Culloty (not pictured) was on RTÉ radio earlier this week discussing the democratic risks of hollowing out RTÉ's public service capacity.

RTÉ executives to be questioned on governance, financial stability and long-term plans at Oireachtas

Dr Eileen Culloty, Associate Professor at DCU School of Communications, discusses a call by Irish media academics for greater debate on the role of public service broadcasting.

rte.ie

With Ireland's presidential election fast approaching, and election interference and disinformation spreading, PhD Jennifer Waters and collaborators have created an online resources on how to spot and report illegal election interference Please share widely sites.google.com/view/electio...

Over half of McGregor's presidential campaign posts on X filled with false claims and threats. A report from @edmoireland.bsky.social and DCU has found that his rhetoric, amplified by Elon Musk, normalised misinformation during his bid. Read more in @thejournal.ie: launch.dcu.ie/46nUi2j

EDMO Ireland have released their review of Conor MCGregor's Online campaign for #Aras25. McGregor's post about his Presidential ambitions included extremist rhetoric, conspiratoral framings, political disinformation which X/Twitter's fact checking system has failed to effectively intervene.

On Tuesday EDMO Ireland travelled to the beauitful DeValera library in Ennis, Co Clare to give a talk for #WorldMediaLiteracyWeek. We will be hosting further media literacy workshops over the next few weeks, ahead of #Aras25, the Irish Presidential Elections on October 24th!

With the date for #Aras25 set, and the candidates lining nominations, we'd advise everyone to subscribe to our partner organisation's @thejournal.ie FactCheck newsletter. This month they're looking at some of the fringe candidates, and a look back at previous Irish Presidental elections.

FactCheck: Sign up to The Journal's monthly newsletter about misinformation trends

See how we’re fighting back with quality information every month – and what’s happening in the wider world of disinformation.

thejournal.ie

In our increasingly polarised political landscape EDMO Ireland's Professor Eileen Culltoy, and her colleague Dr David Farrell argue that the solution lies in grassroots democratic outreach and more substantive citizen engagement in our political processes.

Opinion: As the presidential race begins, ordinary citizens must speak up for democratic principles

External funding, smear campaigns and bots have become familiar features of elections elsewhere

irishtimes.com

Meta's recent announcement that it will follow Google's decision and ban political advertising on its platforms comes with significant implications for free speech and democracy in Europe. Sam Jefferies from @whotargets.me explores the problem and offers some solutions for EU policy makers.

How (and why) to fix political ads in the EU

Meta follows Google (and TikTok and Microsoft) and leaves the EU political advertising market. The damage will be significant.

fulldisclosure.whotargets.me

Professor Eileen Culloty from EDMO Ireland sat down with The @dublininquirer.com's @shamimmalekmian.bsky.social to discuss how a provocative headlines can often negatively impact even a well written story, and look to how the media can and must do better.

Rising above a provocative headline, a woman asks the press to frame immigration stories with care

“I don’t want my story or the way my headline was written and the backlash it got to be a prime example for immigrants to not tell their stories,” says Sumyrah Khan.

dublininquirer.com

A vicious attack on an India worker in Dublin last week has shone a light on how online disinformation is fuelling a wave violence againsit India migrants in Ireland. www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/20...

‘He kept saying: what wrong have I done? Why me?’ An Indian man is left stripped and bloodied on an Irish street

An apparently racially motivated attack in Tallaght has caused ‘outrage, fear and concern’ among the Indian community in Ireland. But it was not an isolated incident

irishtimes.com

@edmo-eu.bsky.social 's best of fact checking map for July is out now. Claims that the Chinese 3 forges damn has "altered the earth's rotation" refuted by NASA. Matroska propaganda campaign targetting Moldova. And Hilary Clinton did not endorse Conor McGregor's bid for the Irish Presidency.

As the Irish Presidental Election gets into gear, EDMO Ireland's fact checking partners at The Journal (@TJ_FactCheck) examines some of the claims surrounding the two announced candidates. thejournal.ie/factcheck/ne...

Childhood vaccination rates in Ireland remain below pre pandemic levels, with the fall in vaccination rates linked to the rise of online disinformation and misinformation about vaccine safety according to Professor Anne Moore from UCC. Read more here....

Childhood vaccination rates below pre-pandemic levels

Childhood vaccination rates across Ireland remain below pre-pandemic levels, according to a new report.

rte.ie

The June monthly fact check briefing by @edmo-eu.bsky.social is out! This month's main story; an unprecedented rise of AI generated disinformation about the war between Israel and Iran. With disinformation utilising AI generated images, videos, and articles contributing to the "fog of war".

EDMO Ireland were delighted to contribute to the Council of Europe's workshop on Countering Disinformation last week in Paris. Dr Culloty provided insight into a draft strategic document on counter disinformation and promoting information integrity. #EUPolicy #InternetPolicy #CounterDisinformation

EDMO Ireland Contributes to Council of Europe Workshop on Countering Disinformation

On 04 July, Dr Eileen Culloty was invited to participate in an expert workshop at the Council of Europe. The workshop provided specialist insight into a draft strategic document on countering disinfor...

edmohub.ie

Our partners at TheJournal report on plans for factchecking under the EU's Democracy Shield. Factcheckers will play “a crucial role in verifying information and countering disinformation”. www.thejournal.ie/michael-mcgr...

Role of influencers to be considered under EU's 'democracy shield' plans

McGrath says a network of European fact-checkers is being established.

thejournal.ie

Based on 1.5k factchecks across the EU, the EDMO #factchecking brief identifies the stories with the most traction across the continent and within countries

As part of a DCU in the Community series, Eileen Culloty delivered a #BeOnlineSmart talk in Ballymun library. Participants took home their EDMO postcards and talked about the attention economy, platform design & online advertising. Visit edmo.eu/beonlinesmar...

Interesting report - by @alliance4europe.bsky.social - reveals that Big Tech platforms fail to uphold EU sanctions on Russian and Belarussian propaganda actors. They are "sanctioned by thriving". alliance4europe.eu/sanctioned-b...

Researcher access to data is essential to understand online platforms. The EU is deciding how to support that. Read the joint submission by the UCD Centre for Digital Policy and DCU FuJo (EDMO Ireland coordinator) here edmohub.ie/index.php/jo...

Joint submission on researcher access to platform data

DCU FuJo and the UCD Centre for Digital Policy have made a joint submission to the Public Consultation on the draft delegated act (article 40) on access to online platform data for vetted researchers ...

edmohub.ie

How is EDMO governed? Who serves on the Executive Board and Advisory Council? What are the mandates of each body? Get to know us better at edmo.eu/about-us/edmoeu-governance/ and find our events on our public calendar – such as last week's EB meeting under an inspiring blue sky in Florence... 👋🏼🦋

Aoife Barry reviews the media dynamics of #GE24 for EDMO Ireland & FuJoMedia. This week it's attack ads, milking media appearances, and organic TikToks. Read here: edmohub.ie/index.php/ge...

#GE24 Media Dynamics: attack ads, milking media appearances, and organic TikToks

Aoife Barry reviews the media dynamics of GE24 for EDMO Ireland and FuJo.While ‘attack ads’ have been a feature of American life since the 1960s (we can thank some of the era’s pioneering a

edmohub.ie

Má tá tuairisc nuachta craolta ó fhoinse amháin nó ar mheán amháin, b’fhéidir nach an scéal ar fad atá i gceist. Cur ceist ort féin – cé a scríobh é seo, cén fáth agus conas ar tháinig tú air? #BeElectionSmart #GE24

A busy day of podcasting First up, The Explainer with @laurabyrne.bsky.social and @donnachadcu.bsky.social Then, The Candidate with @christinebohan.bsky.social @janematthews1.bsky.social @muirisocearbhaill.bsky.social and Christina ‘Not Here Yet’ Finn Listen now ✨ wherever you get your podcasts ✨

Congratulations to Ricardo! The second recipient of the MLI Special Recognition Award goes to someone who has made a particularly significant contribution to MLI in the last year. Congratulations Dr. Ricardo Castellini da Silva 🏆✨🎉 #MLIAwards2024

Dr Shane Murphy examines the National Alliance, an electoral pact designed to avoid vote splitting among right-wing and anti-immigrant candidates for #GE24. edmohub.ie/index.php/th...

#GE24: The National Alliance

Dr Shane Murphy examines the campaign dynamics of right-wing and anti-immigrant candidates.June’s local elections were largely successful for the Irish far right with six anti-immigration candi

edmohub.ie

Be Election Smart for #GE24 When you read multiple accounts of the same story, you can identify patterns in what is included or omitted. For instance, a political event might be framed positively by one outlet and negatively by another. Read more: edmohub.ie/index.php/ge...

Doctored images, dodgy claims, and stage management. Aoife Barry reviews the media dynamics of #GE24 for @edmoireland.bsky.social and @fujomedia.bsky.social Read her analysis here:https://edmohub.ie/index.php/ge24-media-dynamics-doctored-images-dodgy-claims-and-stage-management/