In recent years, societies around the world have been faced with an increase in disinformation, which threatens the legitimacy and stability of existing social systems. This also directly concerns companies, especially those that want to be socially responsible. Their economic performance and existence depends on the context in which they operate. Companies are also important funders of disinformation through advertising and some of them misleadingly report on their social responsibility. Although it is a current and important issue, there are still not many scientific contributions on disinformation in connection with corporate social responsibility (CSR). This is why in my master's thesis I researched what the intersection between the two topics is and how to rethink CSR in the context of disinformation. I found that misleading communication about CSR, such as greenwashing, symbolic conformity and machinewashing, are essentially types of disinformation. From this it derives that we can also draw from the literature in the field of disinformation when researching and theorizing misleading CSR communications. I found that disinformation affects all four levels of social responsibility defined by Carroll in one of the most famous and quoted CSR models, his pyramid. I presented the summarized findings graphically in the CSR model in the context of disinformation, in which ethical responsibility plays a central role, with an emphasis on building trust.
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