Deception has been a long-running problem on the Internet, and it rose to global attention in 2016 with the Brexit referendum and the U.S. presidential election, when “fake news” was deliberately created and spread through social media as part of a disinformation campaign to influence voting. More than 50 per cent of adults get news from social media (primarily Facebook). Most social media users believe that they can detect fake news, but can they really?
Over the past few years, we have conducted a series of studies examining users’ beliefs in social media news stories — both real and fake — and have concluded that we have a major societal problem that will only get worse until we take proactive measures. CONT.
Alan R. Dennis, Antino Kim, Patricia L. Moravec & Randall K. Minas, LSE Business Review