During the coronavirus pandemic we have seen a significant increase in the spread of health information from the scientific field. It is assumed that the scientific appearance facilitates the spread of disinformation and leads to a tendency of sharing it more often. However, the supposed scientific nature of the information as a driving force of digital disinformation campaigns has so far been very little explored.

The project aims at finding underlying mechanisms involved in the digital spread of allegedly scientific health-related disinformation. This will be achieved by using extensive qualitative interview and survey methods in direct exchange with citizens in order to learn which critical events and subjective triggers lead to the spread of seemingly scientific disinformation. Based on the research findings, a generally applicable model of dealing with this type of disinformation will be developed. Disinformation in the health context is of significant societal relevance. The project results will make an important contribution  to the community and can potentially be applied in education, politics and society.