Working group conveners: Research Manager, D.Soc.Sc. Minttu Tikka, THL; Postdoctoral Researcher, D.Soc.Sc., Midwife (Master’s level) Aino Rantamäki, University of Vaasa; Interaction Lead (DECA Consortium), D.Soc.Sc. Minna Horowitz, University of Helsinki; University Researcher, D.Soc.Sc. Reeta Pöyhtäri, Tampere University

Information resilience refers to the preparedness and capacity of society and its actors to confront and counter information disruptions—that is, intentionally or unintentionally produced and disseminated false information. It is the ability to gather and develop practical and truthful information, as well as to resist misleading and harmful information.

Information resilience is tested in times of instability. It is built through safeguarding reliable societal systems and structures, supporting trustworthy knowledge institutions, and strengthening citizens’ trust, participation, and agency. Media and information literacy play a central role in people’s ability to recognize reliable sources. At the core of information resilience are the interactions among actors and the building and maintenance of trust.

The working group connects to the conference theme through the notions of preservation and change. Resilience involves a balancing act of society between maintaining core functions and renewing and learning. How information is communicated can both create stability and safety as well as challenge and critically examine existing structures. Information resilience is thus linked to the legitimization of knowledge, social connections, and the ability to tolerate uncertainty.

The working group examines society’s information resilience from the perspectives of societal structures, knowledge-producing and knowledge-mediating institutions, and citizens’ actions, competencies, and critical literacy. The group explores, among other things, which structures, factors, emotions, or practices support, strengthen, or weaken information resilience. At the same time, it acknowledges that resilience as a concept and phenomenon is multidimensional and complex to define, making critical examination necessary.

The working group invites empirical, methodological, conceptual, theoretical, and critical presentations that examine information resilience from different perspectives. The working group is bilingual, and presentations may be given in either Finnish or English. Possible topics include, for example:

• Media system and its challenges
• Citizens’ (digital) media and information literacy and participation
• Journalistic practices
• Strategic communication
• The effects of platformisation, datafication, and AI technologies on information resilience
• Institutional trust and trust-building
• Comprehensive security (the Finnish Security Strategy) and international recommendations (e.g., UN and OECD 2024 information integrity principles and guidelines)
• The prevention of dis- and misinformation
• Measuring information resilience, developing indicators
• Conceptual analysis of information resilience, e.g., the relationship between resilience and the concept of information integrity
• The role of emotions (e.g., fear and hope) in strengthening or weakening information resilience