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Section outline

  • In this second section, we will focus on aggravating factors for the spread of disinformation, such as individual and group factors, the role of influencers and pseudo-analysts, societal factors, and technological factors, to better understand how they interact to facilitate the spread of disinformation and provide the framework for analysing the best approaches to counter or limit its impact and effectiveness.

    NOTE: Room 105, Departmental Building


    • S2.1. Fact or Opinion? The Exploitation of Errors of Judgement and Group Vulnerability in the Digital Era

      1. Facts, opinions, and objectivity

      2. Mechanisms used in the construction of fake news

      3. Exploitation of vulnerabilities and  errors of judgment 



    • S2.2. Political and social factors: polarization and decline in trust in expertise and authority

      1. Democracy and trust

      2. Types of trust

      3. Subverting trust: contesting facts, distrusting authority, social polarisation

      4. Rebuilding trust      



    • S2.3. Technological developments and their impact on opinion formation

      1. The role of social media      

      2. Artificial intelligence & Synthetic content 

      3. Strategies to combat hostile influence



    • S2.4. Evaluation Module 2