Disinformation and people: Impacts on societal trust and resilience

Have you ever read stories about 5G cell towers spreading COVID 19? Or that the EU supports mass illegal immigration? If you've ever read a post on social media that seems to fish for a strong emotional response, especially fear, there's a good chance it was misinformation or disinformation or fake news. People like you and me have become a target where someone wants to give us strong emotional reactions - from curiosity to disgust or fear - either to make money from the number of clicks or to use fear to increase our doubts about our own authorities and what we normally would consider as reliable sources of information. Our potential distrust of our authorities and/or our neighbors can contribute to social instability, especially during a crisis. The FAKENEWS project focuses on what people do in crises, especially in light of increased misinformation and disinformation that can be used to mislead people, increase mistrust of authorities or others and worsen a crisis situation. We ask: How do civilians' perceptions of threat and subsequent actions affect society's trust and resilience in the face of crises? Norway and Sweden are both known as societies with a high level of trust. However, Sweden and Norway do not handle crises in the same way. FAKENEWS examines the Norwegian and Swedish responses to two crises: the COVID-19 pandemic and the migration crisis of 2015, and how trust and resilience (our ability to resist or adapt to changes due to crisis) were affected during these two crises. We are particularly interested in the effects of error and disinformation on societal trust and resilience. The data collected will be used to compare institutional policies and legal measures, with how people themselves felt and reacted to these crises. Research results from our data analysis, scenario development and exercises will be shared openly via social media, seminars and with decision makers to contribute to academic and public debates.