ABSTRACT
This chapter examines what makes audiences susceptible, and potentially resilient, to online disinformation. A key aim of this chapter is to move beyond simplistic ideas of audience vulnerability. Drawing on research from cognitive psychology, political communication, and human-computer interaction, we present a more nuanced understanding of the complex overlap of factors that shape audience engagement with disinformation and, consequently, make it difficult to pin-point disinformation as a causal influence on audience attitudes and behaviour. Our case study highlights how the strategies employed by the anti-vaccine, or anti-vax, movement intersect with the factors known to increase audience receptivity to disinformation.
