Facts and Fallacies: Advancing Digital Literacy to Fight Fake News on Social Media

Abstract

Policymakers are unable to govern in the public’s best interest when people base their political opinions on misinformation. The plethora of misinformation on social media has created an information crisis, weakening democracy by inhibiting peoples’ ability to distinguish truth from fallacy. While policymakers, lobbyists, and scholars have largely focused their attention on preventing the spread of fake political news through fact-checking and subduing its production, this thesis examines a lesser-known approach: digital literacy. Digital literacy references the skills needed to effectively access and analyze new information on the internet. Digital literacy empowers individuals to control how they interpret media messages online as opposed to letting the media tell them what to think. This thesis conducts a survey experiment to investigate the effectiveness of a concise digital literacy intervention at reducing accuracy perceptions of political fake news on social media. The intervention, called “Tips to Spot Fake News”, informed people of common fake news characteristics and the deceptive tactics used by misinformation producers. The intervention proved to be successful at inoculating people against misinformation. It reduced accuracy perceptions of fake news and increased discernment between mainstream and false news amongst a representative sample of conservatives in the United States. Given these findings, this thesis contends that policymakers and scholars should focus their efforts on digital literacy interventions as a way of preventing misperceptions. The “Tips to Spot Fake News” intervention is a cost-effective approach that empowers people with skills to think for themselves and be actively informed political participants. In suggesting a path forward, I propose that policymakers institute a new law for social media platforms that mandates the promotion of digital literacy initiatives like the “Tips to Spot Fake News.”