there were a large number of actors driven by financial interests, cooperating with others in a decentralized pattern” (Tseng et al. 2020, v). Furthermore, specific narratives have dominated the 2020 Taiwan general election campaign, such as “Democracy is a failure,” which supports the view that democracy in Taiwan has failed to give the people good governance, positive international relationships, and a strong economy, and that democracy leads to moral decadence. “Democracy is a failure” was a constant narrative that played out during the presidential election campaign up until the COVID-19 pandemic. (Tseng et al. 2020, vi) In Central Asia, the influence of content from Russia cannot be discounted. Lola Islamova, founder, director, and editor of the news agency Anhor.uz, noted that state propaganda is a big part of the problem of misinformation in Uzbekistan. The role of Russian media is especially significant. She explains that certain demographic groups, like elderly viewers, prefer to watch Russian TV channels for information and entertainment, and these channels often contain disinformation. Based on Islamova and her team’s monitoring of online content, they concluded that Uzbek-language content and Russian-language content have different audiences, and as a result there are differences in how misinformation manifests. Misinformation in Uzbek is often linked to religion, whereas consumers of content in Russian in Uzbekistan tend to be more educated, and simple misinformation related to religious differences may not have great traction among them (interview, 2021). Similarly, Duman Smaqov, head and editor of the website Factcheck.kz, noted that some of the trolls and bots active in Kazakhstan seem to be originating from Russia, judging by the language, style, and examples used. He explained that many of these bots are very developed and seem to be actively posting information and following each other; to a layperson they may appear to be authentic accounts. Compared to bots and fake accounts in Kazakhstan, those in Kyrgyzstan seem to be a bit less advanced. Partners of Smaqov and his team from the website Factcheck.kg noticed an increase in such accounts during the elections (interview, 2021). It has also been noted that border disputes (such as the one between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan) can give rise to information disorder. Torokul Doorov observed that during the recent Tajik–Kyrgyz border I N FO R M ATI O N D I SO R D ER IN THE GLOBA L SOUTH conflict, there were videos of army vehicles at the border and descriptions implying the mobilization of the army at the border. However, it turned out that the videos were old or actually from another country (interview, 2021). Injina Panthi, a fact checker from South Asia Check, has also observed anti-Indian sentiments contributing to information disorder in Nepal: “For example, there is one politician, she spoke Hindi in our Parliament. So people [created] a perception about her—that she is pro-Indian and can’t Injina Panthi, a fact checker be loyal towards Nepal—and from South Asia Check, has disseminated information also observed anti-Indian accordingly on social media” sentiments contributing to (interview, 2021). information disorder in Nepal. Similarly, Jason Cabañes, professor of communication and research fellow in the Department of Communication, De La Salle University, observed that tensions between the Philippines and China over the South China Sea and, more recently, the Covid-19 pandemic have led to discriminatory attitudes towards Chinese migrant workers in the Philippines, and even towards Filipinos of Chinese descent: And from both camps, those supporting and those who are against the administration, they’re putting out misinformation, or disinformation, that’s amplifying negative sentiments against the [Chinese] migrants who are here. And then, even more importantly, it becomes extended. This is even more scary for Filipinos of Chinese descent or with Chinese heritage. They are very well integrated into the Philippine population— they’ve been here since the Spanish colonial period, [but now] they are becoming part of this discourse. So it’s becoming very xenophobic and nativist. (interview, 2021) HEALTH While health-related mis- and disinformation has often existed (for example the promotion of fake medicines and cures, organ donation scams, etc.), the Covid-19 pandemic has led to the dissemination of a large volume of mis- and disinformation specifically related to the novel coronavirus. Topics include fake cures (for example in India, where this issue is linked to ethnonationalist sentiments), mis- and disinformation about Covid-19 vaccines, and claims accusing certain ethnic, national, and religious groups of being “spreaders” of the virus. In addition, state-backed campaigns have been used Asia – 1 9 6