The structural fingerprints of disinformation: a content-agnostic framework

Infodemics fuel the proliferation of misinformation and disinformation, often outpacing the effectiveness of existing countermeasures. Current interventions—such as debunking and psychological inoculation—typically address either specific instances of false or misleading content or the known manipulative tactics through which such content spreads. While these approaches are effective and scalable, most remain inherently corrective and struggle to anticipate shifts in the disinformation landscape. In this paper, we argue for a theoretical shift in paradigm towards a proactive framework to address disinformation: we propose a content-agnostic model grounded in the identification of recurring linguistic, narrative, logical, and critical thinking patterns that characterize manipulative disinformation prone to virality. By identifying these structural “fingerprints” of disinformation, our framework aims to open new avenues for a research agenda that could inform new inoculation strategies to promote individual and collective resilience. If inoculation provides the methodological foundation for building resistance to manipulation, then identifying structural “fingerprints” provides the core “antigens” that such intervention can target. This, in turn, could enable people to recognize and resist manipulation regardless of the topic, medium, or context through which manipulatory content is delivered. We argue that this approach may offer a sustainable path to building long-term resilience in the face of an evolving and increasingly complex and challenging information ecosystem.