Disinformation is often portrayed as an existential threat to democracy and public discourse. However, current research paints a more nuanced picture: although social media and algorithms promote the spread of false content, there is little evidence of any truly significant impact on key democratic processes such as elections. Premature alarmism can do more harm than good by undermining trust, discourse, and media criticism. The blog post by Dr. Josephine B. Schmitt, scientific coordinator at the Center of Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS), and Miriam Milzner, research associate at the Weizenbaum Institute in the research group “Dynamics of Digital Mobilization,” argues that disinformation should not be understood as a monocausal danger, but rather as a complex interplay of media logics, social structures, and individual conditions. It is important to strengthen information spaces and media literacy instead of acting out of moral panic.
This article is based on a joint presentation by the two authors and Prof. Dr. Andreas Jungherr (University of Bamberg) at re:publica 2025 in Berlin entitled “(Des)informier Dich! Fakten statt Mythen, Forschung statt Bauchgefühl” (EN: (Dis)inform yourself! Facts instead of myths, research instead of gut feelings) and on the presentation “Von Augustus bis Trump – Warum Desinformation ein Problem bleibt und was wir trotzdem dagegen tun können” (EN: From Augustus to Trump – Why disinformation remains a problem and what we can still do about it) by Dr. Josephine B. Schmitt and her colleague Prof. Dr. Hendrik Heuer, research professor and head of the CAIS research program “Design of Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence,” at 38C3 in Hamburg.
The article was published on the blog “Machine Against the Rage” (in German):
https://machine-vs-rage.net/blog/zwischen-realer-gefahr-und-moralischer-panik/