Ability of Detecting and Willingness to Share Fake News

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Peren Arin - , Zayed University, Australian National University (Author)
  • Deni Mazrekaj - , Utrecht University, University of Oxford, KU Leuven (Author)
  • Marcel Thum - , Chair of Economics, esp Public Economics, ifo Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung e.V., Munich Society for the Promotion of Economic Research - CESifo GmbH (Author)

Abstract

By conducting large-scale surveys in Germany and the United Kingdom, we investigate the individual-level determinants of the ability to detect fake news and the inclination to share it. We distinguish between deliberate and accidental sharing of fake news. We document that accidental sharing is much more common than deliberate sharing. Furthermore, our results indicate that older, male, high-income, and politically left-leaning respondents better detect fake news. We also find that accidental sharing decreases with age and is more prevalent among right-leaning respondents. Deliberate sharing of fake news is more prevalent among younger respondents in the United Kingdom. Finally, our results imply that respondents have a good assessment of their ability to detect fake news: those we identified as accidental sharers were also more likely to have admitted to having shared fake news.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number7298
JournalScientific Reports
Volume13
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 2023
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

Scopus 85158874704
ORCID /0000-0002-5071-7849/work/153110075