PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION RESPONSES: TECHNOLOGICAL AND CURATORIAL RESPONSES Responses within production and distribution are less common across the Global South, especially as far as the use of technological and algorithmic responses to counter information disorder is concerned. In Africa, there are a few organizations, such as Media Monitoring Africa and RoveR, that use using natural language algorithmic processing to identify information disorder. The Digital Africa Research Lab holds big technological platforms accountable by ensuring they adhere to global policies whilst taking into consideration the needs and concerns of African users. Some technical responses can also be noted in Latin America, for instance the development of machine learning to identify information disorder by the Argentinian organization Desconfio. In the MENA region, not much progress has been made in this area, but there are a few examples, such as the Tanbih platform in Qatar, which analyzes and detects disinformation by means of AI and deep neural networks. What is notable here, however, is that this backlog— compared to similar efforts in the Global North—can be explained in part by the sociocultural context. The Arabic language constitutes an obstacle in the development of AI tools, and the lack of data in the language makes platform development difficult. Some curatorial responses are evident in the Asian region, both by local platforms (e.g. the South Korean messaging app KakaoTalk, which has implemented content restrictions on certain types of content) and big platforms such as Google and YouTube, which have acted on takedown requests pertaining to information disorder in countries like Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia. Facebook’s track record of regulating information disorder in the region has, however, been controversial, with the use of the platform for the spreading of disinformation in Myanmar and the Philippines being frequently cited examples. Of late, Facebook has made an effort to collaborate with local fact checkers on content moderation, and LINE (a messaging platform), TikTok, Google, and WhatsApp have pledged support to fact-checking initiatives in the Asian region. In Latin America, local organizations such as Derechos Digitales and AlSur have also been engaging big tech platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Google about content moderation. I N FO R M ATI O N D I SO R D ER IN THE GLOBA L SOUTH EDUCATION OF AUDIENCES Responses aimed at the target audiences of disinformation campaigns are widespread and well established across the regions mapped here, with media literacy campaigns being one of the most commonly used strategies. In sub-Saharan Africa, a total of twelve initiatives were found which focus on education and empowerment. In this region, media literacy campaigns extend to the promotion of critical thinking skills, especially when it comes to particular issues such as albinism or sexual minorities. Creative and innovative approaches to literacy and empowerment in the region include an interactive game used by Pollicy in Uganda, and the YALIChecks project aimed at youth and young leaders. Several other training programs, some offered by governments, were also noted. In Latin America, similar educational work is being done by UNESCO through its MIL Clicks project, which distributes training and awareness materials in Spanish, Portuguese, and English. Under the auspices of UNESCO, an international network of actors involved in media education, GAPMIL, promotes media education events and activities in the region. Google News has also been supporting media literacy initiatives in the region through its partnership with a group of civil society organizations, leading to the formation of the Digimente media literacy project, aimed at young people. Although there is little recognition by governments in the MENA region of the importance of media literacy, it already forms part of the curricula of many schools and universities. Several organizations in the MENA region are active in this regard, through providing training on fact checking and on how to combat information disorder, promoting and developing media literacy through preparing local curricula, publishing studies in the field, and running awareness campaigns. Some of these initiatives are affiliated with universities, and others with media organizations. However, the lack of resources in Arabic poses a challenge to the fostering of a culture of critical thinking and fact checking. In Asia, a wide range of media literacy projects are conducted by journalists, academics, fact checkers, government institutes, media organizations, and civil society organizations. Media literacy programs are taught at various Introduction – 1 9