Manufacturing Consent and Fake News | Marc Owen Jones
In this episode of the afikra podcast, which was produced in collaboration with Qatar Foundation, Marc Owen Jones — Associate Professor of Media Analytics at Northwestern University Qatar — talks to us about this age of disinformation and how it manifests in the context of the Middle East. We discuss how social media platforms are regulated and try to understand what disinformation is exactly and where it came from. Touching on significant socio-political events in the region – such as the Arab uprisings of 2011 – the author of "Digital Authoritarianism in the Middle East: Deception, Disinformation and Social Media" reflects on the unique role that social media plays in the Arab world. Referencing the dangers posed by monopolized social media platforms and data colonialism, we also talk about how the news industry is changing and what this will mean for historical records. Finally we discuss the implications on young people today: how they grapple with Ai, disinformation, false and new narratives, and orientalist perceptions of the Arab world.
Marc Owen Jones is an Associate Professor of Media Analytics at Northwestern University Qatar. He is the author of Digital Authoritarianism in the Middle East: Deception, Disinformation and Social Media.
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The afikra Podcast
The afikra Podcast is our flagship series featuring experts from academia, art, media, urban planning, and beyond, who are helping document and shape the histories and cultures of the Arab world through their work.
