Effects of fact-checking warning labels and social endorsement cues on climate change fake news credibility and engagement on social media

Abstract

Fake news spreading virally on social media platforms is a topic of high societal and political relevance. Therefore, platforms have been experimenting with different measures of intervention. However, research on their effectiveness is still limited and dispositional factors are often neglected. We tested two promising interventions – adding warning labels and removing social endorsement cues (i.e., likes) – while including socio-demographic and psychological dispositions based on prior research as controls. Data from an online experiment (N = 591) shows that warning labels significantly reduced credibility perceptions of a fake news post on climate change and respective amplification intentions (i.e., liking and sharing), whereas removing social endorsement cues below a post did not have an impact. Further, credibility perceptions were associated with users’ political orientation. Amplification intentions differed depending on participants’ educational level, political leaning, and analytic thinking style, whereas the willingness to elaborate more carefully about the post varied with their age, the involvement with the topic of the fake news, and their political leaning. Our findings contribute to the research required to craft effective interventions against the spread of misinformation and identify vulnerable users.

Attitudes Towards Science During the Covid-19 Pandemic

“…Finally, the network analysis also provided interesting insights regarding the role of social media. A variety of researchers have recently argued that social media may contribute to the spread of fake news and disinformation (Allington et al, 2021;Koch et al, 2021;Loomba et al, 2021;Pennycook et al, 2020). When it comes to seeking scientific information, however, the present network analysis points to the contrary: Seeking scientific information on social media is not central for the attitude towards science and thus likely has no detrimental impact on this attitude, in contrast to recent concerns about this issue (Weingart & Guenther, 2016).…”

Attitudes towards science during the COVID-19 pandemic: A psychological network approach

“…Finally, the network analysis also provided interesting insights regarding the role of social media. A variety of researchers have recently argued that social media may contribute to the spread of fake news and disinformation (Allington et al, 2021;Koch et al, 2021;Loomba et al, 2021;Pennycook et al, 2020). When it comes to seeking scientific information, however, the present network analysis points to the contrary:…”

Justice in Misinformation Detection Systems: An Analysis of Algorithms, Stakeholders, and Potential Harms

“…This is because the sources cannot contribute to or participate in the broader informational exchange at the same rate as others. If the action taken against the claim is to place a warning label on it, research has shown that this will reduce the credibility of the content [44]. Therefore, their credibility and capacity as a participant in the informational exchange has been unjustly diminished.…”