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Project

Understanding the human factors in the information disorder: experimental approaches to understanding manipulation and media literacy
 

Sri Lanka
Project ID
110152
Total Funding
CAD 976,000.00
IDRC Officer
Ruhiya Seward
Project Status
Active
Duration
36 months

Programs and partnerships

Lead institution(s)

Project leader:
Helani Galpaya
Sri Lanka

Summary

Traditional and new forms of media play a key role in democratic governance processes by providing a platform for free expression of ideas and opinions, and, crucially, for holding power to account.Read more

Traditional and new forms of media play a key role in democratic governance processes by providing a platform for free expression of ideas and opinions, and, crucially, for holding power to account. But among the challenges are that social media provides newer, quicker and more far-ranging means for disinformation and state-/bad-actor-sponsored propaganda to spread. This causes hate speech, rumours, harmful content and campaigns of deception to gain traction in the public sphere. The new information environment has upended traditional content moderation tools that once ensured accountability and plurality – codes of ethics, press complaints commissions, media-licensing regimes, and limits on media ownership and concentration.

The phenomenon of mis/disinformation has been studied mainly in Western/Northern countries, and while there is a growing literature on some aspects of the information disorder in the South, there is still not enough evidence to counter it, particularly in South Asia. Research shows that the most common ways to respond to mis/disinformation are fact checking, media and digital literacy campaigns, monitoring and actions by platforms, and policy and (often controversial) regulatory responses. Yet most fact-checking and media literacy organizations have no way of gauging the impact of their work; at best, the measures they take are rudimentary, such as posting fact checks on social media and counting up the reactions.

Using experimental research, this project will help fill the gaps in our understanding of the human factors – the individual and group characteristics of those who are more (or less) susceptible to mis/dis/malinformation – and the most effective measures to counter it in developing-country contexts. The knowledge gained will be shared and disseminated widely to support changes in policy and practice.