Logo
ScienceStack
Table of Contents
Fetching ...
Sign In

Towards Misinformation Resilience in Pakistan: A Participatory Study with Low-Socioeconomic Status Adults

Muhammad Abdullah Sohail, Amna Hassan, Shaheer Hammad, Salaar Masood, Suleman Shahid

TL;DR

The paper investigates misinformation resilience among low-SES adults in Pakistan, arguing that existing interventions largely fail due to WEIRD-centric assumptions. It employs a three-phase participatory approach—formative interviews, co-design sessions, and iterative prototyping—to derive a Scaffolded Support Model and translate user needs into the Pehchaan prototype. Key contributions include an empirical account of non-WEIRD misinformation practices, a replicable participatory design methodology, and actionable design principles that pair immediate on-demand support with gradual inoculation-based skill-building. The work demonstrates strong cultural resonance and usability, suggesting a practical path toward equitable information resilience in resource-constrained settings and offering a replicable framework for similar contexts.

Abstract

Digital misinformation disproportionately affects low-socioeconomic status (SES) populations. While interventions for the Global South exist, they often report limited success, particularly among marginalized communities. Through a three-phase participatory study with 41 low-SES Pakistani adults, we conducted formative interviews to understand their information practices, followed by co-design sessions that translated these user-identified needs into concrete design requirements. Our findings reveal a sophisticated moral economy of sharing and a layered ecology of trust that prioritizes communal welfare. These insights inform the Scaffolded Support Model, a user-derived framework integrating on-demand assistance with gradual, inoculation-based skill acquisition. We instantiated this model in our prototype, "Pehchaan," and conducted usability testing (N=15), which confirmed its strong acceptance and cultural resonance, validating our culturally grounded approach. Our work contributes a foundational empirical account of non-Western misinformation practices, a replicable participatory methodology for inclusive design, and actionable principles for building information resilience in resource-constrained contexts.

Towards Misinformation Resilience in Pakistan: A Participatory Study with Low-Socioeconomic Status Adults

TL;DR

The paper investigates misinformation resilience among low-SES adults in Pakistan, arguing that existing interventions largely fail due to WEIRD-centric assumptions. It employs a three-phase participatory approach—formative interviews, co-design sessions, and iterative prototyping—to derive a Scaffolded Support Model and translate user needs into the Pehchaan prototype. Key contributions include an empirical account of non-WEIRD misinformation practices, a replicable participatory design methodology, and actionable design principles that pair immediate on-demand support with gradual inoculation-based skill-building. The work demonstrates strong cultural resonance and usability, suggesting a practical path toward equitable information resilience in resource-constrained settings and offering a replicable framework for similar contexts.

Abstract

Digital misinformation disproportionately affects low-socioeconomic status (SES) populations. While interventions for the Global South exist, they often report limited success, particularly among marginalized communities. Through a three-phase participatory study with 41 low-SES Pakistani adults, we conducted formative interviews to understand their information practices, followed by co-design sessions that translated these user-identified needs into concrete design requirements. Our findings reveal a sophisticated moral economy of sharing and a layered ecology of trust that prioritizes communal welfare. These insights inform the Scaffolded Support Model, a user-derived framework integrating on-demand assistance with gradual, inoculation-based skill acquisition. We instantiated this model in our prototype, "Pehchaan," and conducted usability testing (N=15), which confirmed its strong acceptance and cultural resonance, validating our culturally grounded approach. Our work contributes a foundational empirical account of non-Western misinformation practices, a replicable participatory methodology for inclusive design, and actionable principles for building information resilience in resource-constrained contexts.

Paper Structure

This paper contains 48 sections, 3 figures, 1 table.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Related Work
  3. Misinformation in South Asia
  4. Interventions for low SES Individuals
  5. Methodology
  6. Target Population
  7. Participant Recruitment
  8. Study Design and Procedure
  9. Phase 1: Formative Semi-Structured Interviews
  10. Phase 2: Generative Co-Design Sessions
  11. Phase 3: Iterative Prototyping and Usability Testing
  12. Findings from User Interviews
  13. Information Consumption and Engagement Patterns
  14. Platform Usage
  15. Feed Driven Exposure
  16. ...and 33 more sections

Figures (3)

  • Figure 1: Design alternatives explored through speculative probes: (a) WhatsApp fact-checking extension, (b) social Media Emoji Trust Indicator plugin, (c) Standalone educational app, and (d) Speculative smart glasses.
  • Figure 2: Pehchaan's educational features. (a-b) The Mashq Zone guides users through a 5-step analysis of misinformation examples. (c-d) The Sachai Jaanch daily challenge uses a familiar scrollable interface for quick true/false judgments and provides immediate, voice-enabled feedback.
  • Figure 3: The Rehnumayi Chat, modeled after WhatsApp for familiarity, supports multimodal input including text, images (left), and voice notes (middle). The Aaj ki Naseehat (Daily Tip) feature provides concise, daily reinforcement of media literacy principles (right).