A Framework for Information Disorder: Modeling Mechanisms and Implications Based on a Systematic Literature Review
Abstract
This systematic literature review seeks to explain the mechanisms and implications of information disorder for public policy and the democratic process, by proposing a five-stage framework capturing its full life cycle. To our knowledge, no prior reviews in the field of public administration have offered a comprehensive, integrated model of information disorder; most existing studies are situated within communication, information science, or data science, and tend to focus on isolated aspects of the phenomenon. By connecting concepts and stages with enabling factors, agents, tactics and impacts, we reframe information disorder not as a question of "truthiness", individual cognition, digital literacy, or merely of technology, but as a socio-material phenomenon, deeply embedded in and shaped by the material conditions of contemporary digital society. This approach calls for a shift away from fragmented interventions toward more holistic, system-level policy responses.