Combating Information Manipulation: A Playbook for Elections and Beyond

Efforts to undermine election-related information integrity are a growing threat to democracies around the world. These efforts serve to delegitimize elections by reducing faith in elected governments, polarizing societies, and strengthening authoritarians. In many countries, civil society actors, journalists, governments, election management bodies, and other democratic actors are on the frontlines of these battles. Yet, they face significant challenges preparing and responding to new digital threats as they occur before, during, and after elections. If democracies hope to defend free and fair political competition, concerted efforts are needed to identify, respond, and build long-term resilience to election-related information manipulation.

To counter these threats, the International Republican Institute, National Democratic Institute and Stanford Internet Observatory collaborated to create Combating Information Manipulation: A Playbook for Elections and Beyond. Informed by best practices and lessons learned by civil society, governments, academics, and other practitioners around the world, the playbook is intended to help leapfrog the first six months of the electoral preparation process and enable societies to effectively push back against efforts undermining free and fair elections, supporting democratic processes and rights more broadly.

The playbook is currently available in English and French.

If you wish to connect with us on this playbook, please reach out to Amanda Zink, [email protected], with any questions or requests.