The Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC) at the University of Granada (UGR) and Newtral, the Spanish fact-checking media outlet, have joined forces to develop a journalistic investigation, grounded in scientific evidence, into the psychological mechanisms underlying the dissemination of disinformation on digital platforms.
The project, titled "The Psychology of Disinformation: How Cognitive Biases and Algorithms Fuel Digital Manipulation," was selected as one of 24 winning projects in the European Journalism Centre's "Journalism Science Alliance" program. It will focus on exploring how individuals' vulnerabilities, prejudices and cognitive biases are exploited to drive and reinforce disinformation narratives within Spanish and European digital ecosystems.
It will employ the analysis of specific cases, such as the episode of violence against migrants in Torre Pacheco, Murcia, or the DANA (severe weather event) in Valencia, to demonstrate how algorithms operate, how disinformation goes viral and which narratives are employed.
"With this project, our goal is to establish a collaboration with journalists to convey updated scientific knowledge to the public about how fake news and hoaxes are created and spread and how disinformation expands. By focusing on the analysis of real cases that have appeared in the news and are well-known by society, we aim for our message to have a real impact and, hopefully, foster a critical attitude among citizens," said Fernando Blanco, the project's Principal Investigator.
The team will consist of a group of researchers from the CIMCYC, specializing in Cognitive Neuroscience and Social Psychology, and a team of journalists specializing in verification and data analysis. Marilín Gonzalo, Newtral's Public Policy representative, highlighted the study's relevance in the current digital context:
"With this investigation, we intend to go beyond content verification to examine how digital platforms and cognitive vulnerabilities interact to make disinformation narratives effective and far-reaching."
The CIMCYC-Newtral project was selected, along with 23 other projects from 15 countries, from 162 applications, and is the only one from Spain. The winning projects will receive financial support and mentorship from the Journalism Science Alliance to conduct research and produce journalistic content. This alliance aims to support investigative journalism based on scientific evidence. It therefore promotes interdisciplinary collaboration between media outlets and research centers through a grant program co-funded by Creative Europe.
For the CIMCYC, participating in this international alliance reaffirms its commitment to knowledge transfer, engagement with social actors external to academia and the application of Psychology to the comprehension and resolution of social problems, such as the fight against disinformation.