Empowering users to navigate untrustworthy online information ecosystems to reach factual information

The challenge of disinformation in today's world is a major threat that can have serious consequences for individuals as well as societies. This threat is partly facilitated by the vast number of users that are turning to social media and other hyper-connected online information ecosystems for important information. However, the user is linked to a huge amount of both trustworthy and malicious information due to the inherently "veracity-neutral" nature of most online information ecosystems. Moreover, users' own psychological biases may further reduce their ability to correctly evaluate factual information, resulting in user evaluating the trustworthiness of information (and disinformation) without the support of the system itself or the requisite training or skills to make appropriate judgements.

The key objective of this research is to test if a holistic approach that considers both the technical system and psychological constraints of online information ecosystems can create a more effective intervention against disinformation.