Susceptibility to misinformation during crisis: responding to a changing risk landscape in Europe

In this lecture I will first introduce how behavioural science is applied in EU policy-making before introducing the topic I will work on during my fellowship at the IAS: the susceptibility to misinformation during crisis.

At the IAS, I will explore how citizens deal with the uncertainty that crisis events create, and how a potentially increased presence of misinformation affects beliefs and opinions. The risk landscape in the EU is changing. New threats have emerged such as Covid19 and the war in Ukraine. Additionally, accelerating climate change leads to an increase in extreme weather events and natural disasters such as droughts, wildfires, floods, and landslides. In February 2023, the Commission adopted five goals to “act as a strategic compass” in raising disaster and crisis resilience (2023/C56/01). One of these goals is to increase the population’s risk awareness and preparedness.

During some crises (e.g. Covid19 pandemic) we have seen an influx of misinformation, a so-called “infodemic”, making it difficult for people to find reliable guidance when they need it (WHO). During my IAS fellowship, I aim to connect these two relevant working areas: counteracting misinformation and raising citizens’ disaster resilience.

Programme