Information Integrity
The integrity of our information environment is fundamental to the health of democracy and effective public policymaking. Yet today’s digital ecosystems are increasingly vulnerable to low-quality, deceptive, or manipulative information—from both domestic and foreign actors, that undermines trust, polarizes citizens, and impairs collective problem-solving on critical societal challenges.
CCPP scholars investigate the factors that enhance or compromise information integrity across social and digital networks. Our research explores how influence campaigns, algorithmic amplification, and coordination dynamics shape what information people encounter and believe; how media behaviors, attitudes, and identities drive exposure to and endorsement of low-integrity content; how information ecosystems can be made more transparent and resilient; and what the societal, behavioral, and policy consequences are when information systems fail.
Recent Select Publications
- Garrett, R. K., Bond, R. M., & Nisbet, E. C. (2025). Self-Reported Exposure and Beliefs About Misinformation Across a US Presidential Election Cycle: Expressive Responding and Motivated Reasoning. Political Communication
- Nisbet, E.C. and Kamenchuk, O. (2025). Unpacking the psychology of state-sponsored disinformation operations and implications for public diplomacy counterstrategies. In S. Aday’s Handbook on Public Diplomacy. United Kingdom. Edward Elgar Publishing
- Ruijgrok, K., Berenschot, W., Gaw, F., Sombatpoonsiri, J., Wijayanto, Agonos, M. J., & Sastramidjaja, Y. (2025). Towards the Comparative Study of Domestic Influence Operations: Cyber Troops and Elite Competition in Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. Political Communication, 1-21.
- Osborne, M.A., Malloy, S., Nisbet, E.C., Bond, R.M., Tien, J.H. (2022). Sentinel node approach to monitoring online COVID-19 misinformation. Scientific Reports. 9832 (2022).
- Nisbet, E.C. and Kamenchuk, O. (2021). Russian news media, digital media, informational learned helplessness, and the belief in COVID-19 misinformation. International Journal of Public Opinion Research. 33 (3), 571-590
NEWS AND UPDATES ON THIS TOPIC
New Publication by CCPP Faculty Affiliate Ayşe Lokmanoğlu Introduces the VisTopics tool for Topic Modelling of Video and Image Data
Congratulations to CCPP faculty affiliate Dr. Ayşe D. Lokmanoğlu, whose new co-authored article, “Topic Modeling of Video and Image Data: A Visual Semantic Unsupervised Approach,”
CCPP Event Recap: America’s Soft Power & Reputational Security in Crisis? Conversation with Nicholas J. Cull
On May 22, 2025, the Center for Communication & Public Policy and Northwestern University’s Buffett Institute for Global Affairs hosted a campus conversation with esteemed
CCPP Director Erik Nisbet Presents at Northwestern Symposium on Science & Politics on Distrust in Public Health
Last week, Erik C. Nisbet, Owen L. Coon Professor of Policy Analysis & Communication and Director of the Center for Communication & Public Policy, presented
CCPP in the News: Science News Highlights Study on Using AI to Detect Climate Misinformation
A new article in Science News spotlights groundbreaking research led by CCPP Graduate Student Affiliate Mowafak Allaham, co-authored by CCPP Faculty Affiliate Dr. Ayşe Lokmanoğlu
Do People Really Believe the Election Falsehoods They Share? New CCPP Study Published in Political Communication Shows They Do
A new article co-authored by CCPP Director Erik C. Nisbet, along with R. Kelly Garrett and Robert Bond of The Ohio State University, has been
CCPP Researchers Publish Guidance on How to Counter State-Sponsored Disinformation Campaigns
CCPP Director Erik C. Nisbet and CCPP affiliate faculty member Olga Kamenchuk have co-authored a new book chapter, “Unpacking the Psychology of State-Sponsored Disinformation Operations