Information pollution as social harm in a time of crisis: A socio-criminological perspective

Corda, A. (Organiser)
Anita Lavorgna (Invited speaker)

School of Law

Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in workshop, seminar, course

Period	30 Mar 2022
Event type	Seminar
Degree of Recognition	National

Documents & Links

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Dr. Anita Lavorgna discussing her most recent book, "Information Pollution as Social Harm: Investigating the Digital Drift of Medical Misinformation in a Time of Crisis" (Emerald, 2021). During the coronavirus pandemic, with cyberspace being increasingly used to support health-related decision making and to market health products, potentially harmful behaviours have been carried out by individuals propagating non-science-based health (mis)information and conspiratorial thinking. This includes, among other actions, boycotting the use of masks and physical distancing, proactively opposing the use of the COVID-19 vaccines, and promoting the use of useless or even dangerous substances to prevent or cure the virus. By relying on a virtual ethnography approach carried out on Italian-speaking alternative lifestyle and counter-information online communities, Dr. Lavorgna's research shows how the nature of personal interactions online and the construction of both personal and group identities through the development of an 'us vs. them' narrative, are central to the creation and propagation of medical misinformation.