(Al-Zaman 2021c; Vashisth 2020). Al-Zaman and Akbar (2020) investigated social media rumors in Bangladesh and identified the main themes as being politics, health, education, crime, human rights, religious, religio-political issues, and entertainment. In Japan, stories dealing with natural disasters, such as tsunamis and earthquakes, tend to stimulate the creation of highly publicized mis- and disinformation (Owen, Ogasahara, and Kiyohara 2020). In a qualitative study of information disorder on WhatsApp in India, Banaji and Bhat (2020) propose the following typology of disand/or misinformation: overwhelming content, nationalism/ethno-religious bigotry, religious themes or ethno-religious bigotry, gender, and miscellaneous. In a multi-country study by Kaur et al. (2018), different manifestations of information disorder are highlighted. This study provides case studies on India, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan, illustrating how some of the complexities within Asia leads to different “fake news problems.” Many attempts have been made to research contextual factors that influence information disorder ecosystems in the region. Kaur et al. (2018) argue that it is important to consider the impact of the culture, history, politics, economy, education, levels of digital adoption, technology trends, media law, and press systems of countries in the Asia-Pacific when analyzing information disorder in the region. In a qualitative study based on key informant interviews, Carson and Fallon (2021) highlight similar trends in Singapore and Indonesia. Some studies have dealt with the impact of a country’s political landscape on mis- and disinformation. Corcoran, Crowley, and Davis (2019) identified a typology of political disinformation based on case studies focusing on Taiwan and South Korea. The three classes are foreign influence operations, domestic partisan conflict, and suppression of political opposition. In Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand, “racist propaganda,” “information operations,” and “negative campaigning” have been identified as forms of disinformation and hate speech used in systematic manipulative political communication. Cultural elements and the volatile contexts found in these countries also influence these phenomena (Neo 2021; Radue 2019). I N FO R M ATI O N D I SO R D ER IN THE GLOBA L SOUTH 2.3 FORMS AND TYPES OF INFORMATION DISORDER Mis- and disinformation can exist in many different forms. Al-Zaman (2021c) identified eight types of “fake news” content on social media in India: text; photos; audio and video; text and photos; text and video; photos and video; and text, photos, and video. In a study of misinformation on WhatsApp and misinformation in the form of images, Garimella and Eckles (2020) found that misinformation in the form of images is highly prevalent on WhatsApp public groups, while tactics such as taking images out of context or photoshopping images and memes are commonly used to spread misinformation in India. Hate speech is another form of information disorder that is highly prevalent and studied in the region. Meedan has highlighted that mis- and disinformation filled with hatred towards minorities, anti-Asian sentiments (for example by linking the novel coronavirus to China), and political agendas are common topics in the region (Alexander 2020). By means of an anthropological approach, Ivarsson (2019) discusses the important role played by social media in advancing ethno-nationalistic agendas and spreading hate speech in Sri Lanka. Online disinformation and hate speech can lead to violence and disastrous events. Al-Zaman (2019) uses Bangladesh as a case study to show how digital disinformation can contribute to communalism. Based on a case study analysis including India and Myanmar, Young, Swamy, and Danks (2018) suggest common factors in instances where hate speech and disinformation could result in physical harm. They list the following as active factors that spread disinformation: the normalization of violence through abusive online content, the leveraging of existing fears and societal divisions via manipulative content, and complicity or ineffectiveness of powerful groups (for example, technology companies that were slow and unenthusiastic to remove or moderate hate speech and disinformation on social media platforms). They also introduce the virality of social media posts and a lack of source transparency as “background factors.” 2.4 CONTRIBUTORS TO INFORMATION DISORDER A wide variety of factors have been identified as contributors to information disorder in Asia, especially in the realms of social and other digital Asia – 2 3 8