Following the World Economic Forum's report in 2024, misinformation and intentional disinformation are the largest global risks today – both because misleading content can lead to misperceptions and ill-informed behaviours but also because attempts to counter mis- and disinformation can result in restrictions to civil rights.
In an increasingly digitised public sphere where content flows across platforms and information spaces in the blink of an eye, mis-and disinformation can be produced, shared, and consumed more easily than ever before. However, the mere availability of disinformation alone does not mean that people also consume, believe, or act upon it. Not only do different countries differ in their resilience towards misinformation, resilience to disinformation is also shaped by characteristics of different social media platforms, varies between social groups, and depends on characteristics of individual media users and their response to specific content. Measures aimed at fostering citizens' resilience towards misinformation have to take this complex interplay into account. They must be based on a solid base of evidence to avoid unintended side effects, such as fostering distrust in trustworthy information sources.
The project seeks to provide a comprehensive overview about factors shaping resilience to misinformation accounting for the phenomenon' s complexity and to provide evidence-based recommendations for fostering democratic resilience.
André Rodarte <anrod@sam.sdu.dk>
Lena Frischlich <lefr@sam.sdu.dk>
In an increasingly digitised public sphere where content flows across platforms and information spaces in the blink of an eye, mis-and disinformation can be produced, shared, and consumed more easily than ever before. However, the mere availability of disinformation alone does not mean that people also consume, believe, or act upon it. Not only do different countries differ in their resilience towards misinformation, resilience to disinformation is also shaped by characteristics of different social media platforms, varies between social groups, and depends on characteristics of individual media users and their response to specific content. Measures aimed at fostering citizens' resilience towards misinformation have to take this complex interplay into account. They must be based on a solid base of evidence to avoid unintended side effects, such as fostering distrust in trustworthy information sources.
The project seeks to provide a comprehensive overview about factors shaping resilience to misinformation accounting for the phenomenon' s complexity and to provide evidence-based recommendations for fostering democratic resilience.
André Rodarte <anrod@sam.sdu.dk>
Lena Frischlich <lefr@sam.sdu.dk>