Roots and appearance of misleading in digital communication

Working group conveners: Postdoctoral Researcher Maria Eronen-Valli, University of Vaasa; Doctoral Researcher Tiia Alkkiomäki, University of Vaasa; Doctoral Researcher Nuppu Pelevina, University of Vaasa

In the contemporary information landscape, platforms are managed by hidden algorithms (Bucher, 2018; 2020), media users need to deal with affordances limiting and enabling their communication (Ronzhyn et al., 2023), and AI tools are used for creating content (Hess, 2025). In digital platforms where actions by several actors affect trustworthiness, an ecosystem-based approach is needed (Kjeldsen & Hess, 2025). This calls for looking beyond a single media content and scholarly approach.

This working group focuses on misleading as a communication phenomenon in the digital ecosystem involving individual, organizational, and technological actors. Misleading itself is a complex phenomenon with many actors (Ruiz, 2025). For instance, there are contradictory e-commerce actors that may turn out as fake to one, but trustworthy to another (Whittaker et al., 2023). Another example of this complexity is astroturfing (i.e. fake grassroots opinions) in commercial and political settings (Sihvonen & Lehti, 2018) or influencer propaganda (Pelevina, 2025; Goodwin et al., 2023). Moreover, the rise of AI tools may question the very ideal of authenticity (Sihvonen, 2025), but still some AI contents are clearly harmful (Gibbons, 2025; Eronen-Valli & Rahko, 2024).

We invite scholars from diverse backgrounds to explore the roots and appearance of misleading in digital communication. The roots of misleading often run deep underground — entangled in media technology and political and commercial networks, with rhetorical means as the visible part. The language of abstracts and presentations is English.

Suggested topics (not limited to):

  • Definitions and history of misleading
  • Technological aspects of misleading, such as algorithmic bias, dark patterns, and deepfakes
  • Misleading business models and cyber crimes
  • Digital propaganda and cyber warfare as disinformation
  • Shopping sites as scams and fakes
  • Astroturfing as political or commercial phenomenon
  • “Color washing” as a form of misleading
  • The role of consumer actors/ entity in misleading
  • Media literacy and resistance to misleading

References 

Bucher, T. (2018). IF . . . THEN: Algorithmic Power and Politics. New York: Oxford University Press.

Bucher, T. (2020). The right-time web: Theorizing the kairologic of algorithmic media. New Media & Society, 22 (9), 1699–1714. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820913560

Eronen-Valli, M. & Rahko, J. (2024). Medialukutaito kohtaa talouslukutaidon: keinoja kuluttajia huijaavien verkkosisältöjen tunnistamiseen. In: Airola, E., Kanerva, A, Kupiainen R., Maasilta, M., Mäenpää, M. Pekkala, L. & Salomaa, S. (eds). Mediakasvatus hyvinvoinnin ja osallisuuden tukena. Cuporen verkkojulkaisuja 81. Kulttuuripolitiikan tutkimuskeskus Cupore. Available at: https://www.cupore.fi/julkaisut/mediakasvatus-hyvinvoinnin-ja-osallisuuden-tukena/

Gibbons, M. (2025). Rhetorical ventriloquism: From cameos to deepfakes. Rhetoric Review 44 (2), 101–115. https://doi.org/10.1080/07350198.2025.2462400

Goodwin, A., Joseff, K., Riedl, M. J., Lukito, J., & Woolley, S. (2023). Political relational influencers: The mobilization of social media influencers in the political arena. International Journal of Communication, 17, 21.

Hess, A. (2025). The gift of character: Ethos in the AI imaginary. In: Hess, A. & Kjeldsen, J.E. (eds.) Ethos, Technology, and AI in Contemporary Society. The Character in the Machine. New York & London: Routledge. 165–185.

Kjeldsen, J.E. & Hess, A. (2025). An Ecology of Ethos. Western Journal of Communication, 89 (3), 515–536. https://doi.org/10.1080/10570314.2025.2487900

Pelevina, N. (2025). More than slacktivism: Russian Instagram celebrities at the outbreak of war in Ukraine. Teoksessa Zasanska, N. & Ivanenko, N. (toim.) Hybrid Warfare: Digital Media and Technologies in the Russo-Ukraine War. Transcript Verlag.

Ronzhyn, A., A. S. Cardenal & A. Battle Rubio (2023). Defining affordances in social media research: A literature review. New Media & Society, 25 (11), 3165–3188. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448221135187

Ruiz, C. D. (2025). Market-oriented disinformation research: Digital advertising, disinformation and fake news on social media (p. 232). Taylor & Francis.

Sihvonen, T. & Lehti, L. (2018). Keinotekoiset kommentit? Astroturffaus digitaalisen vaikuttamisen välineenä. Lähikuva (2), 10–28. https://doi.org/10.23994/lk.75046

Sihvonen, T. (2025). Arkista informaatiohäirintää vai luovaa ilmaisua? Tehostetut videosisällöt ja syväväärennökset TikTokissa. Media & viestintä 48 (1), 59–86. https://doi.org/10.23983/mv.149489

Whittaker, J.M., Edwards, M., Cross, C. & Button, M. (2023). “I Have Only Checked after the Event”: Consumer Approaches to Safe Online Shopping. Victims & Offenders, 18 (7), 1259–1281. https://doi.org/10.1080/15564886.2022.2130486