Welcome to the Workshop

The United Nations has recently ranked misinformation as one of the most pressing global threats and highlighted its impact on public health, election outcomes, and societal polarization. Misinformation, defined as factually false content, is dangerous. But is misinformation the real threat?

What about manipulative language? What about the blending of true and false information? What about misleading, as opposed to misinforming, content? These all contain elements that create narratives designed to confuse, manipulate, and undermine trust. Elements that hide in grey areas between true and false information and make it significantly more difficult to detect, refute, and combat. And what role does social media play in all of this?

In this workshop, we will approach these grey areas of misinformation research, by examining, among other topics, the mixture of true and false information, manipulative content, and the role of social media. We will address the psychological complexity of true and false information, its social implications, technological challenges, and ethical considerations.

Our aim is to bring together researchers from a wide range of disciplines who are interested to examine the threat of misinformation from new angles misinformation” and consider the various challenges associated with misleading information. Keynote lectures will be given by the following speakers:

• Stephan Lewandowsky, Chair in Cognitive Psychology, University of Bristol
• Nadia Said, Applied Cognitive Psychology, University of Tübingen
• Segun Taofeek Aroyehun, Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Konstanz
• Helen Fischer, Perception and Action, Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien
• Maria Pawelec, International Center for Ethics in the Sciences and Humanities, University of Tübingen

The workshop will also include several topic-related focus sessions, where speakers will have the opportunity to present work in the form of either posters or lightning talks. We will save plenty of time for discussion and have a roundtable session at the end.

If you are interested in attending the workshop, we look forward to your application. Applications are open until February 23, 2025.