Can Digital Literacy Save Us from Fake News? Evidence from the U.S.

• In Event: Fake News, Real Consequences

Abstract

Little is known about the effects of fake news exposure on people’s beliefs and attitudes or how to most effectively counteract it. We address four key questions using multi-wave panel data from a national sample of Americans along with passively collected web traffic data.

First, we test if people who see fake news tend to believe it. Drawing on web traffic data, we provide the first test of the association between real-world exposure to fake news sites and survey-based measures of belief in fake news.

Second, we evaluate the effects of fake news exposure. Previous studies indicate that mere exposure may make otherwise dubious claims seem more credible. We test this hypothesis by manipulating prior exposure to fake news headlines and evaluating whether stories that people have seen before are perceived as more accurate.

Third, research on partisan media suggests that fake news exposure may increase affective polarization and could inspire political action among sympathetic partisans. An embedded experiment therefore examines whether exposure to fake news changes levels of affective polarization, feelings toward the media, and intent to engage in political action.

Finally, we examine whether a digital literacy intervention rolled out on a massive scale by Facebook actually improves respondents’ ability to distinguish between real and fake news.

Authors

• Andrew Guess, Princeton University

• Ben Lyons, University of Exeter

• Jacob M. Montgomery, Washington University in St. Louis

• Brendan Nyhan, Dartmouth College

• Jason A. Reifler, University of Exeter