Research
Four interlocking priorities structure our work and keep misinformation situated in its wider context: from the content and the causes that drive it, through its consequences for individuals and society, to the ...
Misinformation Research Amsterdam (MiRA)
Understanding misinformation in context
Misinformation Research Amsterdam (MiRA) is a research initiative dedicated to studying misinformation not just as an isolated phenomenon, but as part of a broader crisis of truth, authenticity and trust in digital societies. MiRA studies misinformation in context by focusing on four priorities and research areas: causes for misinformation, content of misinformation, consequences of misinformation and countering strategies against misinformation.
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Projects
Our research projects span national competitive funding (NWO Open Competition, M and XS instruments, NWO Veni), large-scale mission-driven consortia (KIC and ORC), and EU-funded collaborations, several of which ... -
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Education
As a central part of MiRA, we have developed an integrated minor in the Bachelor of Communication Science at the University of Amsterdam. -
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In the spotlight
Paper: Hameleers, M. (2025). The visual nature of information warfare: the construction of partisan claims on truth and evidence in the context of wars in Ukraine and Israel/Palestine. Journal of Communication, 75(2), 90-100.
The finding: Across polarised conflicts, most fact-checked visual disinformation is not fabricated: it is real footage stripped of its original time, place, or context and re-used deceptively, constructing a “delusional rationality” that legitimises violence against an out-group while reassuring a positive image of the in-group.
Why it matters: Responses and platform interventions during armed conflicts should target decontextualisation (establishing when and where an image is genuinely from), not only outright fakes.