Disinformation

Divide and Conquer: How Gender-Based Disinformation Weakens Western Militaries

This article examines misogyny and broader anti-gender ideology as under-recognized vectors of hybrid warfare that undermine NATO’s democratic resilience, military cohesion, and Alliance legitimacy. It argues that foreign adversaries exploit entrenched patriarchal and exclusionary narratives through gender-based disinformation to exacerbate polarization, target political actors, weaken trust in defence institutions, and delegitimize NATO. The article concludes that the principles of NATO’s Women, Peace and Security (WPS) policy counter foreign disinformation by limiting the impact of harmful gendered narratives and reinforcing pluralism, and what can be done to strengthen democratic resilience and NATO’s collective defence in an era of hybrid conflict.

Centre For Disinformation Studies

The Role of Government in Combating Gender-Based Disinformation

In July, 3 employees of TBH Skincare, an Australian brand, took part in a TikTok trend where participants described their physical attributes and pieces of clothing in a singsongy fashion. After the post went viral, various internet users began attacking the trend participants, with some insisting that they were the cause of the “downfall of Read More…

Centre For Disinformation Studies

How Disinformation is Distorting Canada’s Climate Reality

Extreme weather in Canada has become both an environmental challenge and an information crisis. As record-breaking wildfires, floods, and heatwaves sweep across the country, Canadians are confronted with accelerating climate impacts and a parallel surge in misinformation and greenwashing that obscures the causes of these events, distorts policy debates, and weakens democratic cohesion. In recent Read More…

Centre For Disinformation Studies

Why We Believe: The Psychology of Misinformation and the Fragility of Collective Consciousness

In an age saturated with information, misinformation has become one of the most destabilizing forces shaping politics, public health, and democratic trust. Governments typically respond with reactive tools such as fact-checking units, content moderation policies, or regulatory reforms aimed at platform transparency. However, these strategies tend to overlook a deeper issue, which is that misinformation Read More…

Centre For Disinformation Studies

How Disinformation Is Eroding the Skill of Democratic Conflict

Democracies survive on the ability of people to disagree without destroying the social fabric that binds them. However, in an era marked by rising mis- and disinformation, our collective capacity to navigate disagreement is deteriorating. While polarization is often viewed as a problem of belief, the deeper issue is that disinformation is changing the very Read More…

Centre For Disinformation Studies

How Fakes Become Facts In Three Steps

Disinformation does not always need trolls or hackers. Sometimes it only needs an algorithm. Build fake sites, get them indexed, and boost them through social media and AI. That simple formula can turn fiction into something that looks like fact. “You can’t outshout disinformation. You have to outsmart it,” says Viktoriia Romaniuk, Deputy Editor of Read More…

Centre For Disinformation Studies

Algorithmic Profit Disclosure Regulation: Corporate Responsibility for Disinformation

Increasingly, NATO countries have begun to describe digital media disinformation not as a discrepancy in communication between formal and informal state actors, but as a risk to national security. This shift is reflected in the Cyber Threat Assessment for Canada 2025, which notes that foreign state actors are using artificial intelligence (AI) to manipulate information, Read More…

Hermean Japra Women in Security

Women in Hybrid Warfare: NATO’s Next Challenge

In this piece, Hermean Japra examines how hybrid warfare, using tools such as disinformation, cyberattacks, and economic pressure, undermines democratic resilience. She analyzes how gendered disinformation and online abuse are used to silence women, limit their participation in public life, and weaken societal resilience. Her analysis outlines practical
strategies NATO can adopt, including improved gender-sensitive threat analysis, support mechanisms for targeted women, and strengthened information resilience systems to counter gender-based hybrid threats.

Centre For Disinformation Studies

When Narratives Undermine Security: How Disinformation Shapes the Environment Around Canada’s Defence Decisions

Modern adversaries no longer need to cross borders to weaken Canada’s security. They focus instead on the environment in which defence decisions are made. Public trust, ideas about cost, and perceptions of Canada’s place in the world become strategic targets. When the informational space around defence policy is filled with confusion or mistrust, even the Read More…

Centre For Disinformation Studies

What We Do Not Account For When Legislating Against Disinformation

In recent years, there have been increased calls for the Canadian government to introduce legislation against disinformation. Tighter laws have been requested in an attempt to reduce the digital flow of deliberately false information in Canadian political discourse around controversies like vaccines, especially during elections. For one, in 2022, Canada’s chief electoral officer Stéphane Perrault Read More…