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Research note: This photograph has been altered: Testing the effectiveness of image forensic labeling on news image credibility
Cuihua Shen, Mona Kasra and James F. O’Brien
Despite the ubiquity of images and videos in online news environments, much of the existing research on misinformation and its correction is solely focused on textual misinformation, and little is known about how ordinary users evaluate fake or manipulated images and the most effective ways to label and correct such falsities.
Research note: Likes, sarcasm and politics: Youth responses to a platform-initiated media literacy campaign on social media
Ioana Literat, Abubakr Abdelbagi, Nicola YL Law, Marcus Y-Y Cheung and Rongwei Tang
To better understand youth attitudes towards media literacy education on social media, and the opportunities and challenges inherent in such initiatives, we conducted a large-scale analysis of user responses to a recent media literacy campaign on TikTok. We found that reactions to the campaign were mixed, and highly political in nature.
Research note: Bolsonaro’s firehose: How Covid-19 disinformation on WhatsApp was used to fight a government political crisis in Brazil
Felipe Bonow Soares, Raquel Recuero, Taiane Volcan, Giane Fagundes and Giéle Sodré
Brazil has one of the highest rates of cases and deaths attributed to Covid-19 in the world. Two factors contributed to the high rates: the Brazilian government underestimated the pandemic and a large amount of disinformation was spread through social media.
Research note: Examining false beliefs about voter fraud in the wake of the 2020 Presidential Election
Gordon Pennycook and David G. Rand
The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election saw an unprecedented number of false claims alleging election fraud and arguing that Donald Trump was the actual winner of the election. Here we report a survey exploring belief in these false claims that was conducted three days after Biden was declared the winner.
Research note: Does the public support fact-checking social media? It depends whom and how you ask
Timothy S. Rich, Ian Milden and Mallory Treece Wagner
We analyze original survey data on support for social media companies’ fact-checking of politicians in general and President Trump in particular. We find overwhelming majorities of Democrats support fact-checking in both instances, while a majority of Republicans support fact-checking of politicians in general but not of President Trump.
Research note: The scale of Facebook’s problem depends upon how ‘fake news’ is classified
Richard Rogers
Ushering in the contemporary ‘fake news’ crisis, Craig Silverman of Buzzfeed News reported that it outperformed mainstream news on Facebook in the three months prior to the 2016 US presidential elections. Here the report’s methods and findings are revisited for 2020.
Research note: The spread of political misinformation on online subcultural platforms
Anthony G. Burton and Dimitri Koehorst
This research note explores the extent to which misinformation and other types of “junk” content are spread on political boards and forums on 4chan and Reddit. Our findings suggest that these userbases are impervious to the appeal of low-quality “pink slime” news sites with algorithmically generated conservative talking points masquerading as journalism.