Deceit between Falshoods and Morality: Unpacking Audience Engagement with Disinformation

Disinformation is customarily approached through an epistemic lens and defined with reference to intentionally false or misleading information. Yet, this approach struggles to account for how disinformation functions as a communicative practice that acquires meaning through audience interpretation and interaction. To develop a more comprehensive understanding, we draw on the analysis of eighteen focus groups conducted in 2025 in three countries that have been under increased scrutiny internationally due to their vulnerability to pro-Russian disinformation, but received limited attention in existing research: Poland, Romania and Serbia. Focusing on responses to examples of pro-Russian disinformation concerning the Russia-Ukraine war and LGBTQ+ rights, we show that participants judged claims not only based on credibility but also based on moral rightness, as well as engaged in contestations over the boundaries of legitimate controversy. Building on this evidence, we argue that disinformation not only creates uncertainty over how the world is but often invites contestation over how the world should be and over where the boundaries of legitimate public debate should lie. We conclude by reflecting on what these findings mean for scholarly research on disinformation, for counter-disinformation efforts, and for the way we understand the impact of disinformation on democracy.