Reports
Global synthesis
Global Assessment Report
Global Assessment Reports provide a periodical global comprehensive synthesis of state-of-the-art research at the nexus of information and democracy.
Global synthesis
Information ecosystem and troubled democracy
This inaugural report of the Observatory is a critical review of state-of-the-art research in three areas, with a cross-cutting theme of mis- and disinformation: media, politics and trust; artificial intelligence, information ecosystems and democracy; and data governance and democracy.
Summaries
Report Summaries
These reports are intended to provide a high level summary of our meta-analysis and guidance to specific audiences on what we can learn from landmark research on often intractable challenges posed by rapid changes in information and communication spaces.
Thematic syntheses
Thematic Reports
The thematic reports focus on specific topics of the Observatory’s meta analysis. For the first research cycle of the Observatory, they also work as specific chapters of the Global Assessment.

Thematic report
Information ecosystems and democracy (chapter 1)
This chapter begins with an introduction that frames the central themes of the report, covers the key concepts and definitions, delves into the challenges facing democracies focusing on mis- and disinformation, acknowledges the limitations of the report and provides an outline of the report.

Thematic report
News Media, Information Integrity and the Public Sphere (chapter 2)
This chapter examines what research tells us about the multiple causes and consequences of changes in legacy and online news media, and what can be done to promote information integrity and a democratic public sphere.

Thematic report
Awareness of Mis- and Disinformation and the Literacy Challenge (chapter 5)
This chapter focuses on people’s knowledge about the presence of mis- and disinformation in the information ecosystems they participate in, and literacy training initiatives that enable people to identify these types of information and to protect themselves from harmful consequences

Thematic report
Governing Information Ecosystems: Legislation and Regulation (chapter 6)
This chapter provides an account of selected legislative and regulatory tools that are available to governments to mitigate the harms of mis- and disinformation and to govern the way mainly big tech companies operate.

Thematic report
Towards Data Justice in Information Ecosystems (chapter 8)
This chapter examines how the monopolistic power of big tech companies – permitted by state and co-regulatory measures and pursued by big tech companies – creates biases and harmful discrimination and exclusions, infringes on people’s human rights in a data economy that thrives on data extraction and monetization, and diminishes the health of information ecosystems.

Thematic report
Conclusion: Information Ecosystems and Troubled Democracy (chapter 9)
This chapter provides a summary of the overall state-of-the-art research indicated by our analysis of research in the preceding chapters, and emphasizes the politics of undertaking research in the areas covered by this report and the risks facing researchers, as well as providing key insights from each of the chapters, overall lessons for researchers and other stakeholders as well as outlining the limitations of the report.