As part of BBC Media Action’s broader effort to understand what works in tackling information disorder, we’re testing proactive responses to mis- and disinformation in places where such interventions are rarely studied.
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Much like a medical vaccine builds resistance to disease, the [inoculation] theory suggests that exposing people to a weakened version of a manipulative technique and showing them how to refute it can build resilience against future exposure. This is the basis of the prebunking approach: helping audiences understand common manipulation techniques, like emotional language, false dichotomies, personal attack, and scapegoating, before they encounter them in the wild.
In partnership with the [United Nations Development Programme], we produced two videos and carried out two randomised control trials via our local El Kul (For Everyone) current affairs platform – a trusted source of information with over a million weekly users.
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[T]he results were encouraging. We found:
- Improved sharing discernment for scapegoating content ….
- Improved technique recognition for emotionally manipulative language ….
We shared these insights at the 2025 Cambridge Disinformation Summit contributing to a wider conversation on what it takes to tackle information disorder in lower-trust, lower-resource contexts.
