Lead supervisor:
Dr Joe Whittaker 
Start date: October 2021
Award: General
Subject Pathway:
Criminology and Law
Thematic Cluster:
Rights and Governance Cluster
Countering Conspiracy Theories and Disinformation with Digital Media Literacy Interventions
Disinformation and conspiracy theories are being spread online. This information disorder content has been closely linked with multiple societal harms. These include extremism, violence and attacks on infrastructure, interference in deliberative democracy and public health issues. A range of measures have been deployed to tackle this problem, including educational interventions designed to enhance digital media literacy. These interventions aim to empower the public with the skills to accurately discern harmful falsehoods, thus reducing their perceived credibility and the likelihood of sharing problematic content.
In spite of a policy push to deploy these interventions, relatively little is known about their efficacy and the landscape of practice. As a result, my research aims to find out if digital media literacy practice is effective, map out the field of practice in the UK, ascertain the barriers and facilitators to improved practice, and produce a framework for enhanced educational digital media literacy practice. To do this I will conduct a large-scale quantitative assessment of the experimental evidence, and seek to identify and interview key practitioners, policy makers and regulators working in this field. The findings from this mixed-methods research will aid the identification of best practice in boosting public resilience to information disorder content.
The impact of this research lies in the illumination of a field of practice about which little is known, and its likely contribution to the identification of effective practice. The research will have expected significance for policy makers, regulators, companies, and practitioners supporting or delivering these interventions.