Report
Misinformation and Disinformation
An international effort using behavioural science to tackle the spread of misinformation
Impact Canada, Impact & Innovation Unit, Privy Council Office
Summary
This study was conducted by the Impact Innovation Unit (IIU) of the Privy Council in collaboration with the Observatory for Public Sector Innovation of the OECD. We tested the impact of accuracy evaluation prompts and digital literacy tips on the intentions to share true and fake news headlines about COVID19 on social media. Results show that behavioural interventions are effective, scalable tools for slowing the spread of misinformation, yet intergovernmental and collaborative experimentation is vital.
Key Insights
- Finding 1: People may share fake news that they do not believe
- Finding 2: Shifting attention to #accuracy significantly increased the quality of information shared on social media.
- Finding 3: Relative to the control group, digital #MediaLiteracy tips resulted in a 21% decrease in stated intentions to share false headlines. In fact, digital media literacy tips had the greatest impact on reducing intentions to share fake headlines online.
- Finding 4: Individual differences in #trust and information consumption shape sharing of, and believe in, misinformation about COVID-19.