Uncertain Knowledge. Studying “Truth” and “Conspiracies” in the Digital Age

Abstract

Recherches en sciences sociales sur Internet 10 | 2021 Savoirs incertains Uncertain Knowledge. Studying "Truth" and "Conspiracies" in the Digital Age Publisher Association Recherches en sciences sociales sur Internet Electronic reference

Linking good counter-knowledge with bad counter knowledge: the impact of evasive knowledge hiding and defensive reasoning

“…For this reason, it is everyone's responsibility to prevent the spread and disclosure of any type of unverified information. Paradoxically, our results show that when, at the collective level, the government tries to silence, hide and reduce the circulation of certain (mis)information and this leads, at the individual level, to the use of DR (Boullier et al, 2021;Singh et al, 2021), this unintended effect can, in turn, counterbalance the potentially negative effects of counter-knowledge.…”

“…), the reactions were variegated (Moreno-Luna et al, 2021;Tiefenha ¨ler, 2020;Molina et al, 2020). Many citizens had reactions such as sadness, pain, distrust, shame and loneliness (Sevillano, 2020) and, according to some studies, this led to forms of DR aimed at either avoiding the embarrassment or disapproval of being accused to share fake news or empathizing with others (Buchanan, 2020;Boullier et al, 2021;Singh et al, 2021), Thus, the following hypothesis was tested:…”

“…Counter-knowledge is defined as knowledge deriving from unverified sources of information (Thompson, 2008). A situation of stress or crisis, like we are experiencing in the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, can be accompanied by a huge wave of false and misleading information that is difficult for users to verify (Gosa, 2011; Singh et al , 2021): in short, there is a proliferation of counter-knowledge (Bolisani and Cegarra-Navarro, 2021; Boullier et al , 2021; Thompson, 2008). This can be a serious problem especially when people feel vulnerable and are more prone to believe in misleading messages (Van Beveren, 2003).…”

“…In this study, we will refer to this as defensive reasoning (DR), a behaviour to which individuals can turn to overcome the lack of transparency or the feelings of being manipulated. Not only can DR cause mistrust of public authorities (Boullier et al , 2021; Buchanan, 2020) but it is also a source itself of empathy for people who find themselves in the same situation (Miller, 1987; Singh et al , 2021). This, in turn, facilitates new interpretations that can circulate and add to counter-knowledge.…”

Complot

“…Coady, 2021). Daarnaast roepen anderen om alternatieven, zoals 'informationele deviantie' (Boullier, Kotras & Siles, 2021). Verderop op het spectrum bevinden zich academici die de term blijven gebruiken met erkenning van alle beperkingen en daar vanuit die erkenning een meer neutrale invulling aan proberen te geven (bijv.…”