19 - Chain of Harm Applied Research Approach: an Iterative Evaluation Framework

Abstract Information: IFES’s Chain of Harm is an evidence-based tool for practitioners to defend against the erosion of information integrity, providing a methodology for practitioners to map threats and interventions along the five stages. The Chain of Harm Applied Research Approach is a model for practitioners to create more contextualized and localized programming through a participatory process that is more responsive to the needs of traditionally marginalized groups as it centers their perspectives throughout. 

This evaluative element is most distinctly seen during the Program Mapping Workshop during which programmatic implementers evaluate the efficacy of their current program activities along each step in the Chain of Harm: 1) the actors producing harmful content; 2) the messages themselves; 3) the modes of dissemination; 4) the interpreters being confronted with harmful content; and 5) the ultimate risks that manifest.

The Chain of Harm provides a facilitation framework for workshop participants to construct a story from survey and focus group findings that enables them to articulate and empathize with the experiences of different groups as they encounter and interpret information – ultimately fueling an ideation process in which adaptations to current programming are proposed and refined with input from the group. The framework acts as an evaluation tool to identify areas where current programming is not meeting the needs of marginalized communities and how programming could be reworked and adapted to address those gaps.

Relevance Statement: The erosion of information integrity is a key driver of democratic backsliding. When elected actors are able to consolidate political gains through distortion of the information space, rather than through the delivery of positive governance outcomes, an important accountability mechanism is eroded: the electorate lacks the information necessary to hold officials accountable, allowing the accelerated subversion of democratic norms and principles. A common tactic used by malign actors to distort the information environment is the amplification of identity-based social divisions. Given the ways in which identity is leveraged in disinformation campaigns, the differential experiences of marginalized groups must be considered in any programming approach that seeks to mitigate the erosion of information integrity. The stories and experiences of marginalized groups, as told through survey data and focus group findings, are central to IFES’ Chain of Harm Applied Research Approach, a DRL-funded project. The Chain of Harm depicts how coordinated disinformation campaigns intersect with and exploit existing identity-based tensions within a society. The Applied Research Approach allows practitioners to map how disinformation, misinformation and dangerous speech affect underrepresented or traditionally marginalized groups at each of five stages of the Chain of Harm and identify potential intervention points where programming can disrupt the emergence of the ultimate risk.