Call for Papers : Information Disorders and Infodemics

The concepts “fake news", "false information", "post-truth", and "alternative facts" ” have often been used by those who try to understand the World we are living in. Some of these concepts were even chosen as "word of the year". Rather than looking at these concepts in isolation seeing them as a series of “information disorders” that we face at different levels will make it easier for us to understand the problem and its social/political consequences. However, information disorders such as disinformation, misinformation, malinformation, conspiracy theories are almost simultaneous with the emergence of “news” as a Notion. These concepts became an integral part of political speeches with the rise of populist discourse and performance.

 

 Although the reproduction of information disorders is not a new phenomenon in our lives, it significantly impacted the reception and production of news through digital tools. We started to be exposed to information disorders through both traditional and social media, especially when we “urgently” need information; in other words, we face the distribution of misleading information especially during a crisis or a decision-making process. There are influential factors from traditional media and ordinary social media users to algorithms, trolls, and polarization with respect to the spread of information.

 

The epidemic of false information, conceptualized as an “infodemic”, became a new phenomenon threatening communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines “infodemic” as false or misleading information during crises or critical moments. It refers to the incapability to reach truth and credible information sources in digital and physical environments. The lack of credible sources strengthens fear, concerns, discrimination, exclusionary and hate speeches, conspiracy theories, and public health problems which thrive on uncertainties in belief systems. In this sense, an infodemic causes d mistrust in various authorities and intensifies uncertainty in societies. Individuals who, with whatever motivation,  take a role in spreading information and sharing alternative facts about the coronavirus without checking the accuracy of the information create difficulties for decision-makers and healthcare professionals to find resources and the auditability of information sources while causing situations such as exhaustion and anxiety among individuals.

Information disorders and infodemic have become a vital problem not just in the field of health, but in climate change, anti-vaccination, terrorist attacks and natural disasters such as fire and earthquakes by causing panic among people and preventing the  taking of “correct” measures.

An infodemic may occur as a result of several different information disorders:  through the spread of misleading information without intention to cause harm; through the spread of false information to harm an actor, a group or an organization; and through the spread of accurate information to harm “well-being” by rapidly reaching masses via media channels. Therefore, a discussion on infodemic and information disorders  require understanding how their different forms are produced, how misleading information emerges from individual and societal impacts, and how intervening mechanisms can be preventive. Thus, our main aim with this issue is to scrutinize the formation, impact, societal, economic, and political consequences of an infodemic.

This issue will contain articles that adopt an inter-disciplinary approach, looking to answer some of the following questions regarding information disorders and infodemic:

• How do information disorders influence individual and societal “well-being”?
• How do individuals and actors in decision-making processes experience information disorders?
• What are the societal and political problems shaped by an infodemic?
• What is the relationship between an infodemic and emotions?
• What are the methods of combating infodemics? Which actors and organizations are effective?
• What is the role of media in the production of an infodemic? What effect does media content have on the spread of misinformation?
• What is the relationship between media systems and knowledge production?
• What impact do approaches such as health/ media literacy have on combating information disorders?
• What is the relationship between the “rise of populism” and information disorders?
• What is the effect of political institutions and mechanisms on information disorders?
• What is the meaning of information disorders in the “post-truth” era?
• What is the relationship between conspiracy theories and information disorders?
• How can information disorders be evaluated within “security” paradigms?
• What are the forms and discourses of national and transnational institutions for combating information disorders