FAKE NEWS – DEMOKRATINS UTMANING En experimentell studie om förebyggande åtgärder mot politiska fake news på sociala medier

Abstract

With the growing influence of social media, the spread of political fake news presents a significant challenge to democracy. This study examines the effects of two preventive measures against political fake news on social media: short warnings promoting critical thinking, and prompts encouraging counterfactual thinking. Using an experimental survey design with 405 participants, randomly assigned to one of three conditions, the study tests three hypotheses. The aim was to determine whether these strategies helped users better evaluate the truthfulness of political claims, or whether they increased uncertainty and skepticism about their own evaluations. The results show that short warnings improved overall accuracy in truthfulness assessments, while encouraging counterfactual thinking did not. However, when analyzing true and false claims separately, both interventions were more effective at identifying false claims, emphasizing their potential in combating disinformation. No significant differences were observed in users' confidence in their ability to assess the truthfulness of the claims, suggesting that the interventions did not influence participants' belief in the accuracy of their own judgments. These findings provide new insights into combating disinformation and promoting critical thinking, particularly within the Swedish context. Despite small effect sizes, the study highlights the need for further development of preventive measures tailored to digital media environments to support a well-functioning democratic process.