IMAGE FORGERY–DRIVEN MISINFORMATION AND ITS IMPACT ON LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT NETWORKS

Abstract

Misinformation through image-forgery has been a global governance issue on the local self-government institutions. This paper focuses on the administrative, political, and social effects of faked images in five municipalities in two countries via a qualitative approach to the issue comprising of case study, semi-structured interviews, and regulatory analysis. In the analysis, twenty-seven cases of misinformation were found to be related to forged images, which can be divided into emergency-related, communal-sensitive, infrastructure-related, and authority-targeted forgeries that are summarized in Table 1. The topological distributions in Figure 2 depict that there is a strategic approach to the use of forged images, especially in election periods and consultations on the budget with the public. Results indicate that there are great discrepancies in administrative verification processes that culminate to delayed or misplaced responses and high levels of distrust by the population as demonstrated in Table 2. The paper also notes communication asymmetry, institutional capacity voids, and amplification of misinformation by political factors as some of the major weaknesses in governance. The suggested solution to these problems is a multi-layered policy framework that entails municipal misinformation policies, Digital Verification Units, reforms in regulations, and strategies to communicate with the population, collaborative efforts by cyber crimes, the integration of technical tools, and community-driven digital literacy efforts. All in all, the paper highlights that image forgery is not a technological accident, but a structural misgoverning problem that must be addressed through the concerted efforts of institutions and policy changes.