RADAR - Raising Awareness on Disinformation Achieving Resilience

The spread of disinformation is a constant challenge for democratic societies in Europe. It has the potential to undermine democratic processes and promote social polarisation. Additionally, the changing digital communication landscapes and social platforms strongly facilitate the spread of disinformation.

Disinformation can have particularly severe effects in sensitive and controversial areas of social cohesion, e.g. in debates on asylum and migration policy or in questions of equal treatment of minorities. Climate change is a pervasive global challenge. Measures to combat climate change and promote sustainability are shaping long-term policy in Germany and the EU, influencing economic investment and revealing social divisions in the process. This makes concrete climate change policies a field of contestation and vulnerable to disinformation. For instance, information falsely stressing that global warming is not caused by human activity, serves to deflect responsibility to act against climate change and prevent meaningful climate change measures.

It is therefore important not only to recognise disinformation in political debates and in everyday life, but also to develop effective policies to combat it.

Projekt goal and content

The project RADAR (Raising Awareness on Disinformation Achieving Resilience) creates a public platform for debate on disinformation and how to counter it.

To this end, RADAR brings together partner institutes from five European countries to discuss the identification and actions against disinformation in their respective countries. Experts from science and politics provide insights as citiznes will share their knowledge and experiences. In a workshop, young Europeans in particular discuss measures that the EU could put in place to counter the spread of disinformation.

The functioning and structures of disinformation are considered in the light of different thematic complexes and policies:Which actors are involved in the dissemination and what impact can disinformation have on democratic processes and debates for instance on migration policy or for LGBTIQ rights?

The IEP will focus on disinformation in relation to climate change and climate policy.

At a concluding conference in Brussels, the experiences and impressions of the project will be collected and recommendations for action for the EU will be elaborated.