Gender as a central site of inquiry within mis- and disinformation studies

Abstract

ABSTRACT Mis- and disinformation have become a central focus within academic research across disciplines, with substantial funding and resources being leveraged to study so-called “information disorder” (Wardle & Derakhshan, 2017). Yet, the majority of this research attends to problematic information within majoritarian issues, focusing (with good cause) on misinformation around COVID-19 and disinformation campaigns that seek to undermine global elections and trust in government. We argue that misinformation research must expand beyond its current subject focus, and center feminist and critical frameworks that more accurately capture why problematic information targets marginalized populations, the underlying power structures that inform the saliency of disinformation campaigns, and the disproportionate impact misinformation has on minoritized communities— both as targets and subjects of weaponized information. In doing so, gender must be a central site of study within misinformation studies.