July 12, 2023

The proliferation of mis-, dis-, and mal-information (MDM) is a significant challenge in the digital age. Although current efforts to address MDM focus on technical interventions, they often overlook the influence of consumer behaviour, beliefs and biases.

To tackle this gap in research, a highly interdisciplinary team consisting of researchers from the NUS School of Computing, NUS Business School, NUS Faculty of Law, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at NUS and NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences will embark on a five-year project investigating digital information creation, dissemination and consumption with a particular focus on the influence of consumer behaviour.

Funded by the Ministry of Education Academic Research Fund, this project is helmed by  Professor Chen Tsuhan, NUS Deputy President (Innovation and Enterprise), and Professor Lee Mong Li from the NUS School of Computing and the NUS Centre for Trusted Internet and Community, who tout the importance of a holistic approach towards investigating and identifying vulnerabilities in the digital information pipeline and developing strategies to enhance digital information resilience. The team has expertise across many facets of MDM detection, making them well-suited to investigating the multifaceted issue of the dissemination and consumption of mis-, dis- and mal-information in our society.

The project’s investigations are multi-pronged; its focuses include studying online social networks, where users can share information and serve as content creators. Another focus of the project is the formation of echo chambers that arise when information that affirms beliefs and biases is shared between like-minded individuals. Consumer behaviour is integral to each aspect of the project, and understanding how consumers interact with information will ultimately be crucial in helping individuals make informed decisions, combating the spread of MDM effectively, and helping create a better-informed and digitally resilient society.

Fundamentally, the project seeks to improve digital literacy in Singapore through developing effective strategies and tools to encourage healthy interactions with digital information. The project envisions that consumers will be empowered to compare and contrast information from multiple perspectives and pursue a deeper analysis of the digital information they consume, which will be crucial to attaining digital information resilience and restoring Singaporeans’ trust in digital information.

Find out more about the project here.