Comedy is no laughing matter for authoritarian states Around the world, stand-ups and satirists are facing the wrath of humorless governments. Here are five people who cracked gags and then faced serious consequences roundup Mariam Kiparoidze
The one red pill Covid conspiracy theorists refuse to swallow A new oral medication has been been approved by the U.K. for treatment of the coronavirus, but anti vaxxers still believe it’s part of a shadowy plot to control the population feature Isobel Cockerell
Social media health myths are destroying the lives of teenage girls A new study shows the devastating effect of misinformation on the physical and mental wellbeing of young women feature Erica Hellerstein
YouTube is still showing propagandist ads featuring detained Belarusians In May, an ad appeared in which blogger Roman Protasevich made an apparently forced confession to inciting mass protests against President Alexander Lukashenko. It was removed for violating the platform’s policies. Similar videos are still showing up explainer Caitlin Thompson
The French doctors railing against vaccines and Covid-19 restrictions A vocal minority of healthcare professionals and medical researchers are helping to push anti-science ideas dispatch Valeria Costa-Kostritsky
Have Italy’s Covid pass protesters forgotten the carnage caused by the pandemic? Bergamo was an early coronavirus epicenter. Now, some of its residents are joining a wave of ‘freedom’ demonstrations spreading across Europe dispatch Marta Biino
Information warfare is on the rise. Why aren’t more people taking it seriously? Future conflicts could see conventional fighting take a backseat to online propaganda q&a Erica Hellerstein
As Germany prepares for a historic election, far-right leaders are embracing Trump’s Big Lie From members of the nationalist party Alternative für Deutschland to QAnon followers and anti-lockdown activists, a whole cast of characters is claiming that the ballot will be rigged dispatch Emily Schultheis
Hacks, threats and propaganda: how China tried to discredit the Uyghur Tribunal Beijing appears to have used every trick in the book to disrupt an independent forum on human rights abuses in Xinjiang, held in London dispatch Isobel Cockerell
Far-right groups hit Germany’s flooded regions with conspiracy theories and disinformation Leading figures in the Querdenken anti-lockdown movement have traveled to some of the worst-affected areas, causing chaos and disrupting official relief efforts feature Josephine Hüetlin
Hero, Zero, Hero: China’s Dr. Fauci is on a dizzy ride as pandemic persists Chinese scientists are silenced on social media as they criticize top infectious disease expert Zhang Wenhong, saying he plagiarized his PhD thesis. feature Isobel Cockerell
Letter From London: Snake news is fake news A recent hoax about escaped venomous reptiles highlights the conflict between facts and civic responsibility on social media — and the void created by the decline of local newsrooms essay Burhan Wazir
What does the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan mean for Central Asia? Afghanistan expert Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili on how regional relations could change amid the lack of a U.S. strategy q&a Mariam Kiparoidze
Russian vaccine propaganda is deepening divisions in conflict-riven Ukraine Conspiracy theories about Covid-19 and Sputnik V boosterism are a new front in the ongoing war between Kremlin-controlled separatists and government forces dispatch Lily Hyde
‘Influence for hire’ networks are manipulating online discussions throughout the Asia Pacific region Disinformation campaigns have become a lucrative economy in a part of the world where digital labor is cheap brief Mariam Kiparoidze
