- Priority Area Multidisciplinary Investigations on Disinformation in Europe
- Year 2022, 2023
- Country United Kingdom
- Project Status Completed
ISD, in partnership with CASM Technology, plans to map the scale and scope of online disinformation in Ireland to examine the who, what and where of the issue for the first time. The project will identify the main actors across a range of platforms including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, Telegram and Gab. Disinformation and extremism often go hand in hand, so the project will also aim to identify the specific disinformation narratives used by extremist actors in Ireland (for example anti-immigrant or anti-LGBTQ rhetoric), while also exploring the prominent narratives in the topics of health disinformation, climate disinformation and anti-government conspiracy theories.
The project will use a three-pronged methodology of building actor lists and keyword lists to perform large scale data analysis from platforms with API access, as well as conducting ongoing ethnographic monitoring in specific fora and fringe platforms that do not allow such access.
The final outputs will be disseminated through media contacts in Ireland and promoted through social media following a thorough communications plan. ISD also plans to engage relevant stakeholders, including academics, policymakers, social media platforms, civic society organisations and community groups, who we believe will also be interested in the results of the project.
