Disinformation and Crime: the Nexus Between Online Disinformation and Offline Crime

• In Event: Advances in Quantitative Methods Panel 4: Quantifying Perceptions, Bias, and Crime-Cognition Links

Abstract

Information pollution ranges from medical misadvise to darker and more insidious conspiracy theories and hate speech. While the existing literature agrees that information pollution poses a credible threat to societal well-being, the nexus of online content to offline actions is an open debate. Whilst some contend that information pollution creates overall societal distrust and degrades inter-group relations, generally, others believe that the specific narratives and biases within disinformation are transmitted to its consumers. Within the framework of Horizon Europe’s FERMI project, we utilize deep learning algorithms to predict offline crimes, with past crime occurrences and the frequency of online disinformation articles as our primary features. This research endeavor provides greater understanding of the potential online disinformation-offline crime nexus and how AI-driven technologies may help society in countering it.

Authors

• Michael Victor Lo Giudice, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore and Transcrime

• Marco Dugato, Transcrime / Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Milan)

• Serena Favarin, Transcrime / Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore