Conceptualizing and Characterizing the Evolving Nature of Computational Propaganda Campaigns in the Global South

<p><strong>Computational propaganda is use of computational means to influence and manipulate opinions and actions about issues and events over time. Since Brexit and 2016 U.S. elections, computational propaganda has emerged as a major concern for governments, international bodies, non-governmental organizations, and citizens all over the world. To respond effectively to this emerging problem, we need to understand computational propaganda’s evolving nature and track the shifts in posting, engagement patterns, type of content, and means of dissemination across multiple computational propaganda campaigns. Presently, the literature in the field of computational propaganda predominantly focuses on two categories: 1) Foreign influence operations across the US, UK, and EU and 2) Events-specific (elections, referendums, protests etc.) computational propaganda across the world. Three major gaps exist in the literature: 1) There is ambiguity about the relationships between actors, content, dissemination methods, political issues and events over time; 2) Longitudinal empirical studies on the evolving nature of computational propaganda campaigns are lacking; and 3) Domestic political actors computational propaganda campaigns are rarely studied, especially in the context of the Global South. This research addresses these gaps in two ways: 1) We propose a conceptual framework to understand the complex relationship between actors, content, dissemination methods, political issues and events over time; and 2) Through two empirical studies, one focusing on Pakistan as a case study, and the other focusing on Pakistan, India, and Israel/Palestine as a comparative, cross-case study, we map and examine the computational propaganda campaigns by domestic political actors over time. This research provides several important contributions including: 1) a new definition of computational propaganda, 2) a system and process-level understanding of computational propaganda’s evolving nature, and 3) a comprehensive understanding of computational propaganda campaigns by domestic political actors in three understudied contexts.</strong></p>