Curbing Information Disorder and Protecting Global Democracy: Opportunities for Development Cooperation

This policy paper identifies opportunities for development cooperation, and makes recommendations spanning both political and operational dimensions. Among the strategic approaches suggested, it is worth highlighting: the importance of tailoring initiatives to the level of political freedom and institutional strength in different countries; the need to work with partners to align measures to counter disinformation with human rights standards; the urgency of supporting journalists and fact-checkers through funding, technological tools, and safety measures; and the need for a multidimensional strategy – integrating legal, social, economic, and technological solutions. Collaborative, multistakeholder, and long-term efforts will be key to countering this hybrid threat and fostering information integrity.

The publication “Curbing Information Disorder and Protecting Global Democracy: Opportunities for Development Cooperation” was commissioned by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Sector Programme Governance, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).