Fake News: Why Does it Persist and Who's Sharing it?
2018 was another big year for fake news, especially in the Philippines. With the coming elections and turbulent political landscape, fake news has become a vehicle for mudslinging and smear campaigns, a phenomenon echoed in politics all around the world. The country witnessed the circulation of some big rumors, including the claims that the vice president was aiding communist rebel groups [3] to those claiming that a former dictator won the Guinness world record for “World’s Most Brilliant President in History” [2].
As widespread as fake news seems, it may seem difficult to grasp that people can believe it despite how absurd or unrealistic the claims may be. Recent research, however, explains that fake news possesses certain attributes that make people likely to trust them, and understanding these factors can hopefully shed light on possible ways to stop the spread of dangerous misinformation.
What’s Wrong with Fake News?
Fake news is an online phenomenon bearing serious real-world consequences. It pushes propaganda, sways elections, distorts truth, and ruins lives. For instance, ISIS utilized online bots to spread fake news and push their propaganda online, while fake news praising Trump and bashing Clinton garnered more attention on Facebook than 19 major news combined sites during the US elections [1]. Fake news has the potential to be weaponized by militants, subvert the democratic process, and wither trust in media as a core pillar of civil society.
The growth of fake news and a heightened awareness of its damaging effects has fostered a great sense of paranoia in society. About 42% of Americans no longer believe mainstream media due to the influx of false news stories [4], whilst political figures like President Trump, Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, and even the Burmese military, routinely using the term “fake news” to dismiss allegations of injustices in their administration [7].
Fake news is a present threat, and it hacks at the foundations of safety, security, and justice with each day it is allowed to spread. People are finding it harder to tell fact from fiction, and are liable to internalize false beliefs that cause social unrest with far-reaching consequences. Considering this, what insights can the behavioral sciences offer that may help us improve our resilience to misinformation?
References
[1] Akpan, N. (2016, December 5). The very real consequences of fake news stories and why your brain can’t ignore them. PBS News Hour.
[2] France-Presse, Agence. “FACT CHECK: No, Ferdinand Marcos Does Not Hold Guinness World Record for Being the “World’s Most Brilliant President in History”.” ABS-CBN News. Last modified November 20, 2018. https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/20/18/fact-check-no-ferdinand-marcos-does-not-hold-guinness-world-record-for-being-the-worlds-most-brilliant-president-in-history.
[3] France-Presse, Agence. “Fact Check: No, These Leni Slippers Were Not Found at an Abandoned NPA Camp.” ABS-CBN News. Last modified November 30, 2018. https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/29/18/fact-check-no-these-leni-slippers-were-not-found-at-an-abandoned-npa-camp.
[4] Gordon, M. (2018). Real effects of fake news on PR. The Holmes Report.
[5] Nelson, Jacob L., and Harsh Taneja. “The small, disloyal fake news audience: The role of audience availability in fake news consumption.” New Media & Society 20, no. 10 (2018), 3720-3737. doi:10.1177/1461444818758715.
[6] Pennycook, Gordon, Tyrone D. Cannon, and David G. Rand. “Prior Exposure Increases Perceived Accuracy of Fake News.” SSRN Electronic Journal, 2017. doi:10.2139/ssrn.2958246.
[7] Ratcliffe, C. (2018, July 27). The term ‘fake news’ is doing great harm. The Conversation.
[8] Vosoughi, Soroush, Deb Roy, and Sinan Aral. “The spread of true and false news online.” Science 359, no. 6380 (2018), 1146-1151. doi:10.1126/science.aap9559.
About the Author
Lorenzo Flores
Lorenzo is an undergraduate student at Yale University from the Philippines. He intends to major in statistics and data science, and is interested in the applications of data science in development and policy and its connections to behavioral science. He hopes to apply these skills towards analyzing and developing programs that solve issues in the Philippines.
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