Infodemic Inc. is designed to foster critical engagement with the ethical, legal, and economic complexities driving content moderation in the digital age. The game was created as part of the InfoLead Programme, a collaborative initiative between the University of Oxford, the University of Helsinki, and the University of Florence, and supported by the European Media and Information Fund (EMIF). You can access the game here: https://infodemic.gg
Purpose of the game
Infodemic Inc. aims to enhance media and information literacy, particularly among legal professionals, policymakers, and students engaging with issues of digital governance. The goal is to provide a new kind of experiential learning environment in which players can encounter the kinds of value-laden decisions faced by social media platforms when trying to balance public trust, profit motives, and regulatory pressures. By doing this, the game hopes to get users interested in what are often considered more abstract decisions taken by faceless and distant companies.
While traditional pedagogical approaches often struggle to fully capture the real-time, high-stakes nature of platform governance, this simulation offers a dynamic alternative. It allows players to explore and engage with realistic dilemmas informed by a growing repertoire of actual case studies - such as the Facebook Oversight Board's deliberations on COVID-19 misinformation.
Pedagogical applications
Infodemic Inc. serves as an educational tool for both students and educators seeking to explore the complex dynamics of digital media governance. For students, the game offers an immersive, hands-on learning experience that complements theoretical instruction on topics such as platform governance, information disorder, and the ethics of content moderation. By engaging directly with simulated decision-making scenarios, learners are encouraged to reflect critically on the socio-technical systems that underpin contemporary media environments.
For educators, Infodemic Inc. provides a flexible and accessible classroom resource that can be integrated into courses in communication studies, political science, law, media studies, and digital humanities. It functions effectively as a standalone case study or as a discussion prompt to facilitate deeper engagement with regulatory, ethical, and economic questions surrounding social media platforms.
Get in touch with the developers
The game engine has been created open source and is free to use and modify for other educational purposes. The plan is to extend this style of interactive learning to other domains in collaboration and partnerships with other projects with different media literacy needs. Please contact Matti or Aleksi, if interested in discussing or learning more about possible further applications for the game architecture and style of learning.