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Partisan asymmetries in exposure to misinformation
Ashwin Rao1,2, Fred Morstatter3, Kristina Lerman3
1Department of Computer Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 90007, USA. mohanrao@usc.edu.
Scientific Reports
|September 19, 2022
Summary
Political partisanship influences exposure to online misinformation, with conservatives more likely to encounter and share false Covid-19 information. Political moderates help filter misinformation, while polarization amplifies its spread.
Area of Science:
- Social Sciences
- Communication Studies
- Public Health
Background:
- Online misinformation significantly impacted vaccine hesitancy during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Previous studies linked political conservatism to misinformation sharing, but exposure mechanisms remained unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how political partisanship affects exposure to online misinformation.
- To determine if partisanship drives misinformation exposure or selective sharing.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of Twitter discussions regarding the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Classification of users based on shared information sources (political and factual spectrum).
- Quantification of exposure through retweet interactions.
Main Results:
- Partisan asymmetries in misinformation exposure were identified, with conservatives showing higher likelihood of seeing and sharing misinformation.
- Ideologically congruent networks increase exposure, and polarized users (hardline conservatives and liberals) amplify misinformation.
- Misinformation received less attention than factual content; political moderates acted as a filter.
Conclusions:
- Political ideology significantly shapes exposure to and amplification of online misinformation.
- Understanding polarization's role is crucial for public health messaging and policy interventions.
- Interventions targeting social media exposure and user behavior can mitigate misinformation's impact.
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