What is happening in the US is happening in countries all over the world. Below are some resources for you to find out what is happening in your country and how to fight back.
Note if your country isn’t listed, it may be soon. Search the web for what may be happening, particularly in the realm of disinformation campaigns, which is where these authoritarian movements often start.
Watch what other countries are doing and get a head start on combatting authoritarian tactics. Anne Applebaum’s Twilight of Democracy talks about how many of the ploys being used in the US have been used in other countries first, and Maria Ressa’s How To Stand Up To A Dictator describes, in great detail, about how autocrats in the Phillipines took over, using Facebook as their platform for disinformation to get a foothold in their government. Read them both. Do you see any similarities to happenings in your country?
Articles on general Europe disinformation and right-wing campaigns:
- Bribes and Lies: Foreign Interference in Europe in 2024
- Populist Right-Wing Parties Lead Polls in Europe’s Biggest Economies
- Democratic backsliding in Europe by country
Australia
Australia remains a strong democracy, with systems and safeguards that other nations, including the U.S., could learn from. However, like all democracies, it faces pressures that could challenge its institutions over time. Staying informed about developments at every level of government is essential. It’s also worth noting that Rupert Murdoch, whose media empire has significantly influenced U.S. politics through outlets like Fox News, is Australian.
Brazil
Brazil is still a democracy and can give some lessons to the US, although it, too, has been targeted for disinformation campaigns in the past that could change things in the future. Understand why Brazil is being targeted and who is doing the targeting.
- How Disinformation Is Undermining Trust In Brazil’s Most Used Digital Public Infrastructure
- Combating Disinformation by the Brazilian Judiciary: Initiatives for the 2024 Municipal Elections
- Disarming disinformation in Brazil: From a megacity newspaper to an Amazon news collective
- Brazil offers America a lesson in democratic maturity
Canada
- Canada has a disinformation problem—and the tools to fix it
- Backgrounder: RT’s hostile activities
- Combatting the Pillars of Digital Authoritarianism
- Timeline of Misinformation and Disinformation in Canada
- Ontario’s Bill 5: Has Populist Authoritarianism Arrived in Canada?
- Canada MP Destroys Trump with What He Fears Most (Video discusses authoritarian influence and US interference in Canadian elections)
Germany
Phillipines
- Digital Autocratisation and Electoral Disinformation in the Philippines
- Democracy in Further Peril: New Autocrats in the Philippines
- How to Stand Up to A Dictator by Maria Ressa
Spain
- Spain’s attack on independent media is unprecedented in a core EU state
- Russian state-sponsored media outlets and social media accounts spread disinformation ahead of Catalan independence referendum
- ‘Lawfare’ in Spain: the cases against the Sánchez family
- When the party is over: Explaining the rise of the Spanish far-right SALF
- Architects of Terror: Paranoia, Conspiracy and Anti-Semitism in Franco’s Spain by Paul Preston
UK
- Revealed: How foreign billionaires pump millions into British politics
- British Prime Minister slams ‘misinformation’ in escalating row with Elon Musk
- Can a UK party backed by Elon Musk outflank Nigel Farage on the right?
- Lammy announces exposure of 18 Russian spies after UK cyber-attacks
- The Russian Threat to The UK
