The World Is on Fire, How Did You Know? Reverse Agenda-Setting theory untangling the mists of mis- and disinformation in the case of #ArsonEmergency

While authorities have been gradually increasing vigilance towards mis- and disinformation to protect democtractic values, the attention has also been shifted towards users’ role in communication. In this context, the inverse flow of Agenda-Setting Theory, Reverse Agenda-Setting (RAS) Theory, assists to explore the opportunity platform infrastructures offer users to set an agenda. The research employs a case study methodology to assess to what extent Twitter infrastructure mediates mis-/disinformation through RAS in the case of the Australian Bushfires. Soliciting digital methods the study collected tweets over a course of three days at the peak of the trend. The content analysis and network analysis of those revealed that a network of accounts was at the core of #ArsonEmergency. Those accounts exhibited inauthentic behaviour by practising strategic information operations which suggests a high level of command of Twitter’s affordances. Their activities achieved the first, and the third layer of RAS and partly succeeded with the theory’s second layer. The conclusion builds on the existing knowledge, that platform mechanisms drive Social Media Platforms, contributing to the growth of mis-/disinformation, and adds RAS as a relevant framework. In doing so, it proposes a complex mechanism whose elements – platform mechanisms, RAS, platforms, users, platform infrastructure, affordances, mis-/disinformation – mutually shape each other.