The conference we hosted at Istanbul Bilgi University on May 24-25, 2025, under the RESAID initiative, addressed information disorders through a multilayered approach, drawing on contributions from academics across a broad interdisciplinary framework extending to social sciences, law and media studies, psychology, and security policies.

The first day of the conference began with an opening speech by Paolo Cesarini, Chair of the Board of Directors of the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO). Click here to listen to the opening speech. This was followed by a session titled “Different Approaches to Information Disorder in the Post-Truth Era,” moderated by Pınar Uyan-Semerci. In this session, Engin Onuk examined how information disorder is problematized and disseminated in global policy discourses; İrem Oran bibliometrically compared concepts of information disorder in Turkish and international literature. In addition, Aylin Kılıç Cepdibi discussed the position of truth in the face of power by looking at the Post-Truth Era in the light of Hannah Arendt; Salih Bıçakcı and Ayhan Gücüyener Evren presented a study on cognitive security and the chain of disinformation attacks. In the afternoon, the session titled “Discussing Information Disorder with Examples from Different Countries,” moderated by Mehmet Ali Tuğtan, continued. In this session, Cengiz Erişen compared Turkey and South Korea in the context of correcting misinformation and building trust in society; Özgenur Korlu addressed the relationship between information disorder and police violence protests in the US; and Güventürk Görgülü presented an example of political disinformation during the 2023 election process. Finally, Onurcan Güden proposed a model of resistance against cyber propaganda in Western democratic systems, using the example of the Netherlands. The first day of the conference concluded with the session titled “Information Disorders in Crises: Disasters, Migration, and Media,” moderated by Şaban Çaytaş. In this session, Naz Hıdır examined gender-sensitive approaches through examples of good practice in Hatay and Adıyaman following the February 6 earthquakes; Deniz Ceren Uzun addressed social media and secondary trauma in the context of the February 6 earthquakes; and Adem Kotan used social network analysis to reveal the spread of anti-migrant discourse in Twitter/X hashtags through the Vezir Mohammad Nourtani incident.

The second day of the conference began with a session titled “Interventions and Resistance Strategies in Combating Information Disorders” moderated by Gökçe Uysal Gündoğdu. In this session, Fatih Çömlekçi discussed the joint struggle of verification organizations and journalists against climate change and information disorder; Gökçe Gezer discussed the relationship between disinformation and resilience in the context of social security; and Can Zeren presented an assessment of concepts, parasites, and immunity practices in the information crisis. Later in the day, a session titled “Information Disorders in the Age of Democracy and Conspiracy Theories” was held, moderated by Tuğçe Erçetin Sabuncu. In this session, Ara Ege Altınman explored the effects of micro-targeted political advertising on voter participation in advanced democracies, examining the impact of surveillance capitalism on democratic participation; Yakup Furkan Yılmaz assessed democracy, populism, and polarization in the post-truth era in light of rising truth hegemonies; Dilale Öz Dönmez examined the role of conspiracy theories in politics in Turkey through political discourse and public opinion; and Dilale Öz Dönmez and Batuhan Şar analyzed the relationship between conspiracy theories and perceptions of migrants in the context of social trust. The conference concluded with a session titled “Digital Culture, Suspicion, and Conspiracy Beliefs,” moderated by Emre Erdoğan. In this session, Öykü Mutlu Çimitay conducted a digital ethnography on “wellness influencers” through Instagram. Bu oturumda Öykü Mutlu Çimitay, “wellness influencerları” üzerinden dijital etnografi yaparak Instagram influencer ekonomisinin dezenformasyon kaynağı olarak rolünü araştırmış; Sena Akkoç, Türkiye’de çevresel komplo inançlarının belirleyicilerini incelemiş; Kevser Salih ise yapay zekâ tabanlı haberler üzerine bir vaka çalışması yaparak siyasi haber üretiminde yapay zekânın değerlendirmesini yapmıştır. In this session, Öykü Mutlu Çimitay conducted a digital ethnography on “wellness influencers” to investigate the role of the Instagram influencer economy as a source of disinformation; Sena Akkoç examined the determinants of environmental conspiracy beliefs in Turkey; and Kevser Salih conducted a case study on AI-based news to evaluate the use of artificial intelligence in political news production.

Click here to access the book, which includes 12 of the 21 articles presented at this conference.