Center for Monitoring, Analysis and Strategy: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|German extremism monitoring agency}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}

{{Expand German|CeMAS – Center für Monitoring, Analyse und Strategie}}

{{Infobox organization

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The '''Center for Monitoring, Analysis and Strategy (CeMAS)''' is a German [[Nonprofit organization|non-profit]] extremism monitoring agency established in 2021. Its stated focus is on creating an early warning system against [[Conspiracy theory|conspiracy ideologies]], [[disinformation]] and [[far-right extremism]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Kutsche |first=Katharina |date=March 30, 2021 |title=CeMAS: mit digitalen Mitteln gegen Radikalisierung im Netz |trans-title=CeMAS: with digital means against radicalization on the net |url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/hassrede-telegram-radikalisierung-1.5250480 |access-date=2022-11-11 |website=[[Süddeutsche Zeitung]] |language=de |archive-date=11 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221111040204/https://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/hassrede-telegram-radikalisierung-1.5250480 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |lastlast1=Felden |firstfirst1=Esther |last2=Höhn |first2=Anne |date=March 31, 2021 |title=TV chef turned rabble-rouser |url=https://www.dw.com/en/attila-hildmann-tv-chef-turned-covid-rabble-rouser/a-57058697 |access-date=2022-11-11 |website=[[Deutsche Welle]] |language=en |archive-date=11 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221111040206/https://www.dw.com/en/attila-hildmann-tv-chef-turned-covid-rabble-rouser/a-57058697 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |lastlast1=Kayali |firstfirst1=Laura |last2=Scott |first2=Mark |date=2022-03-17 |title=Anti-vax conspiracy groups lean into pro-Kremlin propaganda in Ukraine |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/antivax-conspiracy-lean-pro-kremlin-propaganda-ukraine/ |access-date=2022-11-11 |website=[[Politico]] |language=en-US |archive-date=8 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221108142246/https://www.politico.eu/article/antivax-conspiracy-lean-pro-kremlin-propaganda-ukraine/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Overview ==

The Center for Monitoring, Analysis and Strategy was established in March 2021 by political [[Data science|data scientist]] Josef Holnburger<ref>{{Cite web |lastlast1=Loucaides |firstfirst1=Darren |last2=Perrone |first2=Alessio |date=10 March 2022 |title=The media giant you’veyou've never heard of, and why you should pay attention |url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/epoch-times-media-giant-youve-never-heard-of-and-why-you-should-pay-attention/ |access-date=2022-12-06 |website=[[openDemocracy]] |language=en |archive-date=6 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206002133/https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/epoch-times-media-giant-youve-never-heard-of-and-why-you-should-pay-attention/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and social psychologist [[Pia Lamberty]], with the intent of developing an early warning system against conspiracy ideologies, disinformation and far-right extremism.<ref name=":0" /> The other founding members are senior researchers Miro Dittrich<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |last=Schumacher |first=Elizabeth |date=February 8, 2022 |title=Disclose.TV: English disinformation made in Germany |url=https://www.dw.com/en/disclosetv-english-disinformation-made-in-germany/a-60694332 |access-date=2022-10-26 |website=[[Deutsche Welle]] |language=en |archive-date=26 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221026033034/https://www.dw.com/en/disclosetv-english-disinformation-made-in-germany/a-60694332 |url-status=live }}</ref> and Jan Rathje,<ref>{{Cite web |last=McGrane |first=Sally |date=2022-05-19 |title=Pro-Russian rallies sputter, but still rattle a nervous Germany |url=https://www.codastory.com/rewriting-history/russian-car-rallies-germany/ |access-date=2022-11-14 |website=[[Coda Media]] |language=en-US |archive-date=14 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221114130803/https://www.codastory.com/rewriting-history/russian-car-rallies-germany/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and cognitive scientist Rocío Rocha Dietz.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bateman |first=Jessica |date=September 13, 2021 |title=Germany Braces for Election Disinformation |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/09/13/germany-election-disinformation-social-media/ |access-date=2022-11-14 |website=[[Foreign Policy]] |language=en-US |archive-date=14 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221114130752/https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/09/13/germany-election-disinformation-social-media/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Rocío Rocha Dietz |url=https://cemas.io/en/team/rocio-rocha-dietz/ |access-date=2022-11-14 |website=CeMAS |language=en |archive-date=17 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220517073443/https://cemas.io/en/team/rocio-rocha-dietz/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It is based in [[Berlin]]<ref name="WaPo">{{Cite news |last=Stanley-Becker |first=Isaac |date=September 25, 2021 |title=Election fraud, QAnon, Jan. 6: Far-right extremists in Germany read from a pro-Trump script |worknewspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/09/25/german-election-far-right-trump/ |access-date=November 11, 2022 |archive-date=31 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211231025940/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/09/25/german-election-far-right-trump/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and is funded by the {{Ill|Alfred Landecker Foundation|de}}, which provided the organization with €2.8 million.<ref name=":0" /> The organization tracks far-right activity on [[Telegram (software)|Telegram]].<ref name="WaPo" />

During the [[2021 German federal election]], CeMAS found that false claims of voter fraud had become commonplace on Telegram in Germany, with accusations against [[Dominion Voting Systems]] being common despite the company's technology not being used in German elections. Dittrich said, "We have seen far-right actors try to claim election fraud since at least 2016, but it didn't take off. When [[Donald Trump|Trump]] started telling the '[[Big lie#Donald Trump's false claims of a stolen election|big lie]],' it became a big issue in Germany, sometimes bigger than the pandemic, because [[German far-right|far-right groups]] and the [[Alternative for Germany|AfD]] are carefully monitoring the success Trump is having with this narrative."<ref name="WaPo" />

CeMAS staff are consulted by many media outlets as experts on topics such as conspiracy theories, [[State propaganda in the Russian Federation|Russian propaganda]], [[Reichsbürger movement|Reich citizens]] and [[Antisemitism|anti-Semitism]].<ref>{{Cite news |lastlast1=Eckardt |firstfirst1=Lisa-Marie |last2=dpa |date=2022-11-03 |title=CeMAS: Immer mehr Deutsche stimmen laut Studie russischer Propaganda zu |url=https://www.zeit.de/politik/deutschland/2022-11/cemas-studie-russland-propaganda |access-date=2024-12-13 |work=Die Zeit |language=de-DE |issn=0044-2070}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-11 |title=Former lawmaker's arrest over suspected coup plot highlights Germany's extremism problem - TODAY |url=https://www.todayonline.com/world/former-lawmakers-arrest-over-suspected-coup-plot-highlights-germanys-extremism-problem-2068376 |access-date=2024-12-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221211100313/https://www.todayonline.com/world/former-lawmakers-arrest-over-suspected-coup-plot-highlights-germanys-extremism-problem-2068376 |accessarchive-date=2024-12-1311 December 2022 |website=web.archive.org}}</ref>

In 2023, CeMAS was presented with the Philipp Morris ''Power for Democracy'' Award for outstanding democratic engagement.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Engagement gegen Rechtsextremismus und Verschwörungsideologien {{!}} Deutsches Stiftungszentrum |url=https://www.deutsches-stiftungszentrum.de/aktuelles/2023_10_13_power_for_democracy_award_cemas_gegen_uns |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=www.deutsches-stiftungszentrum.de}}</ref>