-- UNDERSTANDING DISINFORMATION -- Disinformation and its Sociopolitical Context -- A Philosophy of Disinformation -- Manipulating Minds: The Psychological Underpinnings of Misinformation -- Disinformation Economics -- International Human Rights Law and the Legal Regulation of Disinformation -- Detecting Misinformation and Disinformation in Digital Media -- Anthropology and Disinformation -- Journalism and Disinformation -- From The Protocols to Pizzagate (and Beyond…): Conspiracy Theories and Disinformation in US History -- Disinformation and Trust in Media and Institutions -- THE DISINFORMATION ECOSYSTEM -- Informational Power and Disinformation: Actors, Messages, Incentives, and Techniques of Disinformation Campaigns -- Disinformation and Elections -- Foreign Influence Operations and Their Proxies -- Follow the Money: Understanding Economic Incentives Behind Online ‘Disinformation’ -- Generative Artificial Intelligence and Disinformation -- How Health Disinformation Hijacks Health Narratives to Make Profit, Erode Trust, and Score Political Points, and What to Do About It -- Climate Change Disinformation -- Uncovering Networks of Cross-Platform Information Operations -- The Russo-Ukrainian Information War -- Weaponizing the Issue of Ukrainian War Refugees for Political and Geopolitical Gain: The Romanian Case -- Case Study on Social Media Analysis of Elections in Kenya -- RESPONDING TO DISINFORMATION -- Media Literacy as a Policy Response to Disinformation -- Independent Fact-Checking: Ex Post Response to Disinformation -- Using AI to Tackle Disinformation: Methods and Tools from the vera.ai Project -- Multilateral Efforts on Information Integrity: Why a Clear Definition Is Needed -- Freedom of Expression and Its Limits: Constitutional Dilemmas and Regulatory Conundrum Related to the Fight Against Disinformation -- Disinformation in Africa: Overview and Responses -- The EU Policy Framework to Counter Disinformation: Enabler or Inhibitor of Freedom of Expression? -- Disinformation in the US: Overview and Responses -- Disinformation in Japan: Overview and Response -- Disinformation in Brazil: Overview and Responses -- Blurring the Bright Lines: Australia’s Failed Attempt to Regulate Misinformation

This volume provides a multidisciplinary analysis of disinformation and strategies for tackling it. Authored by a diverse group of scholars and experts, chapters in this volume are divided into three thematic sections. The first section delves into disinformation from various disciplinary perspectives including philosophy, social psychology, economics, international law, data science, anthropology, political science and history. By examining the underlying factors behind disinformation and analyzing its impact on democratic processes, this section sheds light on its complexities, and reminds us that different policy responses are always grounded in different explanatory angles of the phenomenon. The second section focuses on the information ecosystem, investigating the processes, technologies, and actors involved in the spread of disinformation. By examining real-world examples and the roles played by different actors and technologies, this sheds light on the intricate workings of disinformation in different thematic and regional contexts. The book culminates in the third section, which focuses on crafting effective responses to disinformation. Chapters in this section explore policy efforts aimed at ensuring information integrity across the world, and highlight the importance of fundamental rights and evidence-based policy responses, encompassing self and co-regulation, quality journalism, fact-checking organizations and the pivotal role media literacy initiatives.

Published online: 09 January 2026