NORDIS

The NORDIS research partners consist of four university partners, each representing one of the four biggest Nordic countries. The university partners, Aarhus University, University of Helsinki, University in Bergen and Uppsala University, constitute a multidisciplinary research network ranging from computer science to media, journalism, and policy studies. The research activities are divided into 4 activities, each led by one of the University Partners:

• Activity 2, led by the NORDIS coordinator, Aarhus University, will provide research on the context and circulation of mis- and disinformation in Nordic countries on digital media. The research conducted will be based on cross country data. Activity 2 will add new research on disinformation that will lay the foundation for shared fact-checking initiatives, policy measures, and further insights into the emotions and influencers of disinformation
• Activity 3, led by University of Helsinki, studies how key stakeholders — fact-checkers, policy-makers and media literacy experts — view information disorder, investigates key aspects of national resilience, and maps policy developments in the NORDIS countries.  It also adds to pedagogy by contributing to the development of Digital Information Literacy tools and creates a new university-level course on understanding and analysing information disorder.
• Activity 4, led by University in Bergen, studies the socio-technical development of fact-checking tools adapted to the needs of the Nordic fact-checkers. Among other things, this activity explores how fact-checking practices are augmented with different technical tools and an overview of available or emerging technology, and analyses the gaps in the available technology in relation to work processes and opportunities for development. Additionbally, professional practices, ethical principles and human-computer interaction are investigated to nourish the sociotechnical development of a new operational fact-checking tool that integrates the fact-checkers perspective, from the lenses of the fitness-for-use principle and the user experience
• Activity 5, led by Uppsala University, explores in theory and practice a variety of social media data analysis methods that may be valuable to support the work of fact-checkers. This explorative activity is important to identify future extensions of and additions to the methods that are already available through tools currently available to fact-checkers. Second, empirical studies of selected information flows across social media platforms will be performed.

Reports

These activities have resulted in multiple research reports, which can be accessed below:

• A method for auditing fact-checking databases by Aarhus University
• Predicting covid-related collective anxiety on social media, by Aarhus University
• Policy approaches to information disorder in the digital welfare state, by the University of Helsinki
• Opportunities and challenges of public service media organisations in countering information disorder: The case of the NORDIS countries, by the University of Helsinki
• Assessing Information Disorder in the Digital Media Welfare State: A Rights-Based Approach, by the University of Helsinki
• State of the art in fact-checking technology, by the University of Bergen
• Report on the user needs of fact-checkers, by the University of Bergen
• Detection methods: a description of the algorithms used to identify problematic content and behaviors, with case studies, by Uppsala University
• Report on image verification tools, by the University of Bergen
• Emotional landscapes of misinformation spread, by Aarhus University
• How to assess national resilience to online misinformation, University of Helsinki (with DIGIRES/Vytautas Magnus University)
• An analytical report on online information propagation: A description of the methods applied to characterize the propagation of stories, with case studies, by Uppsala University