University of Twente Student Theses
The disinformation landscape of the future : a qualitative perspective.
Rossing, Julian (2023) The disinformation landscape of the future : a qualitative perspective.
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| Abstract: | Disinformation has divided societies and eroded trust between citizens and governments. It has attacked democracies and the ability to tackle acute health threats such as the coronavirus and measles. This study seeks to offer a reflection on how the disinformation landscape could develop, how technology will influence this landscape, and which current methods to counter disinformation are expected to remain effective. With semi-structured interviews, the reflections of 18 participants were collected. The data were analysed by means of thematic analysis. Participants reflect that society will become increasingly sceptical of experts and science, in a way that has not been seen before. False narratives are increasingly converging between domains and the landscape is shifting towards a society that increasingly operates on the basis of different facts. The influence of AI implies that researchers, the media and the general public will be unable to keep up with new issues. Advancing AI will likely empower disinformation actors at a much higher pace than it will empower those who want to counter it. Meanwhile, the development of personalized disinformation and avatars will increase the credibility of disinformation. Media literacy/inoculation has been identified as an effective method to counter disinformation, teaching society to identify disinformation content and strategies. This would work best in combination with debunking and regulations in the short term. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 05 communication studies |
| Programme: | Communication Studies MSc (60713) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/97407 |
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