Spotting Fake News: Evidence from a Large-Scale Digital Literacy RCT in India

• In Event: Combating Misinformation and Fake News

Abstract

With the proliferation of digital technology, online news consumption is rising rapidly around the world (Flaxman, Goel, & Rao, 2016). While the digital revolution has greatly enhanced access to information for millions, it has also allowed unscrupulous state and non-state actors to spread misinformation online (Anderson, Rainie, & Caiazza, 2017).

Youth are particularly vulnerable to misinformation online. This may be because they are fluent in using technology and are more likely than their older counterparts to access news online (Cortesi et al., 2015). It is also assumed that since youth toggle across digital platforms with ease, they are also savvy about evaluating the trustworthiness of what they find online. However, recent research shows that youth struggle with evaluating online content and a majority of them cannot even distinguish between “sponsored content” and real news (Wineburg et al, 2018). It stands to reason that digital nativity does not necessarily translate into digital literacy.

While online fake news is now acknowledged as a threat to the future of democracy globally (Connolly et al., 2016; Rannard, 2017), literature on youth’s ability to assess misinformation online is unfortunately sparse. The few studies that have examined this issue focus solely on the United States, neglecting vast populations of youth being targeted by misinformation globally. India has the highest population of social media users after China, at 755 million users in 2022, more than double the United States figure (Statista 2022). However, the dynamics of digital literacy and misinformation in context such as India are little understood.

To address these gaps, our study has three major objectives. First, we seek to assess the digital literacy skill levels of youth in democracies outside the United States. Second, we seek to rigorously evaluate an innovative program to improve youth’s ability to assess the reliability and value of information online. Third, we plan to see whether encouraging the development of softer skills, specifically an orientation towards seeking truth and conceptual understanding of related concepts, has an effect on digital literacy skills.

We draw on rigorous recent research and expertise at Stanford on effective strategies for distinguishing misinformation to develop an effective digital literacy intervention. The program teaches strategies similar to those used by professional fact checkers to evaluate information online, such as lateral reading, differentiating sponsored content and verified accounts, adapted to the cultural context of India and taught through video lessons. A parallel truth intervention develops softer skills such as a conceptual understanding and orientation to seeking truth.

The experiment is conducted among approximately 4,000 online-accessible low income and lower-middle income urban youth in India. After completing a baseline survey and assessment, students are randomized into one of four treatment conditions in a 2x2 experimental design. Baseline and endline assessments include a digital literacy test with scenario-based items that assess skills in assessing the veracity of online information. The digital literacy test with scenario-based items covers a mix of political and public health related themes, as well as themes that have nothing to do with political topics or public health topics. Within public health, we create a battery of items that specifically focus on the COVID-19 pandemic. We are therefore able to evaluate whether our intervention has an effect on helping subjects identify misinformation related to the pandemic.

The speed with which fake news has permeated all aspects of discourse has rightly caused panic among educators and policymakers. Our study not only documents the prevalence of digital literacy skills among youth in a large and important democracy outside the United States, but more importantly, explores strategies that improve those skills, and rigorously evaluate them. This is vital because we are confronting an entirely new global reality in which citizens need to be equipped with tools to navigate information in the digital age—their ability to do so effectively will have broad consequences for the future of democracy.

Authors

• Dinsha Farrokh Allen Mistree, Hoover Institution

• Prashant Loyalka

• May Farid, University of San Diego