Misinformation environments and social risk: a communication perspective

Misinformation is widely recognised as a significant social risk, yet conceptual disagreement persists over how the problem should be defined, analysed and managed across disciplines. Within risk analysis, misinformation is typically approached as a problem of encoding: a product of poor practice in risk assessment or risk communication, addressed through stronger scientific fundamentals and greater transparency. This article argues that such an approach, while necessary, is insufficient. Drawing on communication and systems theory, it advances an alternative account in which misinformation is significantly a decoding phenomenon, produced between senders and receivers and situated within cultural and media environments that risk analysts have limited power to influence. The argument is explored through the case of Australia's renewable energy transition, focusing on the contested offshore wind sector, where growing community opposition has become entangled with misinformation about environmental and social risks. The article identifies several features of the Australian public sphere, including concentrated media ownership, uneven institutional trust, the legacy of strict Covid-19 restrictions and historic ties between fossil fuel interests and media ownership that make it particularly susceptible to misinformation. The analysis suggests that even sound, evidence-based risk assessments can be relabelled as misinformation within such environments. The article concludes by considering the implications of this systemic, environmental view of misinformation for risk analysis practice, arguing for closer integration between risk science and communication science.