The Case for a Designated Hub to Address Disinformation in Israel

Disinformation has become an increasingly expansive phenomenon that occurs at various levels of production, consumption, and dissemination of information, infiltrating every sphere of individuals’ lives. By doing so, it cripples the political, economic, and ecologic systems of the world, permeates the mechanisms of crucial decision-making related to health, security, and the environment, and heightens ideological and cultural tensions that threaten the stability of communities and democracies. The COVID-19 pandemic brought along a mass wave of disinformation, and increased public recognition of the need to create mechanisms that protect societies against the threat of disinformation, both in Israel and around the world. 

Legislation is one of the methods being utilized to regulate the information and data market and oversee how information is collected, processed, and circulated by tech companies. However, these efforts are not sufficient, and a civic infrastructure is required to preserve democratic foundations and create social digital resilience. 

Israel is an example of a country in which disinformation can be easily disseminated, due to its ongoing political, economic, and health crises which incapacitate government institutions and hamper the advancement of any policy to regulate disinformation and create social digital resilience. Therefore, this policy paper aims to create a framework for establishing and implementing a non-governmental, civil path for managing disinformation in Israel by creating a disinfo hub that will harness the power of activists in the field. 

Based on this need, the following recommendations were made: 

1. Create a designated civil “Disinfo Hub” to tackle disinformation in Israel that will prevent the Israeli digital public sphere from being exposed and defenseless against disinformation. 
2. Combine courses of action to advance a “whole-of-society approach” that requires creating and sharing knowledge and insights, promoting cross-sector collaboration, and advancing public engagement and policy advocacy.

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