Digital media and disinformation

Learning objectives

At the end of the course, students will have acquired the ability to reconstruct the purposes, characteristics and methods of intentional dissemination of false, inaccurate or distorted news or information within a conditioned media ecosystem, among other things, from the progressive digitization of communication and the pervasive affirmation of social media; Furthermore, students will be able to use the tools necessary to exercise a critical spirit on the information flows that are conveyed on a daily basis by means of the web.

Course content

The first part of the course will be an introduction to the so-called “disinformation society”. Starting from the great impact that digital media have had on the production and consumption of information, the lessons will focus on the analysis of the tools and methods that favor the consolidation of a process of disinformation spread on a global scale and that is particularly insidious in terms of political debate and electoral competitions.
The second part of the course will instead be dedicated to the study - favoring a comparative and transnational approach - of the disinformation processes that have affected: War in Ukraine (2014-2022); ISIS-Cyber ​​Caliphate (since 2014); Presidential elections in the United States (2016 and 2020); Referendum on the permanence of the United Kingdom in the European Union (Brexit) in 2016; Covid-19 pandemic in 2020-2021; Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Bibliography

Two books of your choice from the following:

1. Veronica Barassi, The Children of the Algorithm. Surveillance, Tracking, Profiled from Birth. Luiss, University Press, 2021 (pp. 157);
2. Rob Brotherton, Suspicious Minds: Why We Are All Conspiracy Theorists, Bollati Boringhieri, 2021 (2015) (pp.317): Three parts to choose from among those that make up the book: 1. The Age of Conspiracy 2. What is Evil 3. What is a Conspiracy Theory 4. Conspiracy Mentality 5. The Paranoid Fringe 6. I Want to Believe 7. (Official) Stories 8. Connecting the Dots 9. In Search of Intentionality 10. Distorted Proportions 11. I “Knew” It;
3. Massimo Bucchi, Digital Confidences. Vices and Virtues of Technological Innovation, Il Mulino, 2023 (pp. 165);
4. Luca Gorgolini (ed.), Digital Media and Disinformation. Politics, Journalism, Social Networks and Armed Conflicts, Bologna University Press, 2022 (pp. 136);
5. J. Gottschall, The Dark Side of Stories: How Storytelling Cements Societies and Sometimes Destroys Them, Bollati Boringhieri, 2022 (2021) (pp. 274). Three chapters to choose from the six that make up the book: 1. "Whoever tells a story rules the world" 2. The dark arts of storytelling 3. The war for storyland 4. Universal grammar 5. Things collapse 6. The end of reality;
6. C. Hassan, C. Pinelli, Disinformation and Democracy. Populism, Network and Regulation, Marsilio, 2022 (pp. 205);
7. Antonio Nicita, The Market of Truth. How Disinformation Threatens Democracy, Il Mulino, 2021 (pp. 238);
8. P. Pomerantsev, This is not propaganda. Adventures in the war against reality, 2020 (2019) (excluding part six);
9. Stefano Quintarelli (ed.), Artificial Intelligence: What It Really Is, How It Works, What Effects It Will Have, Bollati Boringhieri, 2020 (pp. 138);
10. Sara Rubinelli, Nicola Diviani and Maddalena Fiordelli, Critical thinking and disinformation: a contemporary problem, Carocci, 2020 (pp. 172);
11. Éric Sadin, I Tyrant: The Digital Society and the End of the Common World, Luiss University Press, 2022 (2020), (pp. 223);
12. Gabriella Taddeo, Digital Persuasion. How People, Interfaces, and Algorithms Influence Us Online, Guerini scientifica, 2023 (pp. 188);
13. Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation: How Social Media Has Ruined Our Kids Hardcover, Rizzoli, 2024 (pp. 456);
14. Yuval Noah Harari, Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI Hardcover, Bompiani, 2024 (pp. 612);
15. Jerry Kaplan, Generative AI: Understanding, Understanding, and Using Generative Artificial Intelligence, Luiss University Press, 2024 (pp. 226);
16. Axel Bruns, Is it true that the Internet is closing us in a bubble? A critical perspective on filter bubbles and echo chambers, Franco Angeli, 2024 (pp. 126);
17. Alain Touraine, Globalization and the End of the Social. To Understand the Contemporary World, Il Saggiatore, 2008 (pp. 283);
18. Carlo Invernizzi Accetti, Twenty Years of Rage. How Resentment Has Replaced Politics, Mondadori, 2024 (pp. 156).

Knowledge of the teaching materials that will be made available by the teacher during the lessons is also required, with particular reference to the contents that will be developed in the second part of the course.

Teaching methods and tools

Face-to-face lectures using PowerPoint, handouts and audiovisual materials.

Assessment methods and criteria

At the end of the course, students will have to take an oral exam in which the knowledge acquired in studying the scheduled texts and in-depth study of the contents developed during the lessons will be assessed.