CONTENTS

THE BIG STORY

DISINFORMATION

P H O T O

S T O C K

/ A L A M Y

D O N O VA N

G O R D O N

17 Entering the matrix

The digital age has increased the potency and complexity of misinformation. To tackle it, we need a systemic response, argues Nanjala Nyabola.

22 Red letter day

In 1924 an infamous document brought down Britain’s first Labour government – it was a forgery. Conrad Landin looks at the ongoing legacy of the Zinoviev letter, an early example of fake news.

25 Facts not Fakes

26 Big Whoppers

Our online spaces are rapidly transforming into cesspits of lies. With disinformation campaigns aplenty, Paula Lacey puts four egregious cases under the magnifying glass. Plus: Cartoon by Polyp

28 The Philippines disinformation machine

Don Devin Hapal examines the sophisticated networks of digital strategists, paid influencers and young workers fuelling the Philippines’ flourishing disinformation industry.

32 Dying in the passive voice

Through a powerful series of illustrations, Mona Chalabi exposes how the mainstream media distorts the truth around Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

34 Fact-checkers to the rescue?

Fact-checking has moved out of newsrooms and into the domain of independent organizations. But how effective is the tool at tackling disinformation? Samira Sawlani investigates.

4

CURRENTS

Stories making the news   8 Serbia: the EU’s dirty lithium deal   9 Iran wages war on VPNs

Will Zimbabwe ditch the death penalty? Plus: Briefly 10 Tajikistan: Pamiri minority faces silent crisis

Military radar station threatens rural Wales Tanzania silences the Maasai

Plus: Open Window 12 King Charles vs Australia’s First Nations 13 Introducing: Amra Ram

Plus: Seriously? 14 Surrogacy rights for all India

Plus: Sign of the Times 15 Peru: Loggers killed in Indigenous territory Plus: Reasons to be Cheerful

REGULARS   6 Letters

Plus: Why I…   7 Letter from Kampala

Sophie Neiman makes a memorable visit to a small, relatively isolated, Jewish community in the hilltops of eastern Uganda.

40 Country Profile: Haiti

P H OT O

S T O C K

I / A L A M Y

I O W S K

W R Z E S N

B A R T E K

42 Cartoon History

Polyp introduces the Chartists, a 19th-century movement in Britain which inspired rebels across the globe.

49 Southern Exposure

Gordwin Odhiambo captures children using a makeshift net for a ball game in Ngong forest, Nairobi.

50 The Interview

Anoosheh Ashoori speaks to Maxine Betteridge-Moes about how he survived Iran’s notorious Evin prison.

NEW INTERNATIONALIST