Libraries as Frontline Defenders Against Disinformation Warfare: Fact or Fiction?

Abstract

The spread of disinformation in the digital age is an unprecedented threat to democratic governance, public health, and social cohesion. Libraries are increasingly becoming the main bulwark against false and misleading information. This paper examines the evolving role of public, academic and school libraries in the fight against disinformation, drawing on research from library and information science, media literacy studies, information warfare and epistemology. Adopting a critical narrative literature review design, the paper synthesises peer-reviewed and grey literature published between 2018 and 2026 around an explicit thematic framework rather than a systematic search protocol. It analyses library strategies and the challenges they face, including resource constraints, political sensitivities, educational shortcomings, and tensions between intellectual freedom and tackling disinformation. Drawing on epistemic justice and the cybersecurity principle of defence-in-depth, the paper argues that libraries are not called upon to determine the truth, but to facilitate the collective critical appraisal of information in the community, while functioning as one necessary but insufficient layer within a wider counter-disinformation ecosystem. The review shows that libraries contribute significantly to media and information literacy, civic participation, and community resilience but are still hampered by structural, technological and political constraints. The paper also finds that isolated interventions in libraries are not sufficient to counter large-scale disinformation ecosystems. The study contributes to the growing discourse on countering disinformation by proposing that libraries should be integrated into wider interdisciplinary and societal frameworks, including education, technology governance, public policy and initiatives on digital citizenship.