Curtailing False News, Amplifying Truth

IF 6.2 1区经济学 Q1 ECONOMICS

Econometrica Pub Date : 2026-09-22 DOI:10.3982/ECTA22524

Sergei Guriev, Emeric Henry, Théo Marquis, Ekaterina Zhuravskaya

引用次数: 0

Abstract

We develop a comprehensive framework to evaluate policy interventions aimed at curbing false news dissemination on social media. Using a randomized experiment on Twitter and during the 2022 and 2024 U.S. elections, we assess priming for misinformation awareness, fact-checking, confirmation clicks, and content consideration prompts. Priming proves most effective in reducing false-news sharing while preserving true news dissemination. We build and structurally estimate a model of sharing, motivated by partisan persuasion, partisan signaling, and reputational concerns. We identify three channels through which policies influence sharing: (i) updating perceived veracity and partisanship of content, (ii) raising salience of reputation, and (iii) increasing engagement costs. Differences in the effects of policies are explained by the salience and cost channels. Content-neutral priming is best at enhancing salience of reputation at minimal cost and almost as effective as fact-checking in updating veracity. Salience channel is stronger when users encounter uncontroversially true content.

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减少假新闻，放大真相

我们开发了一个全面的框架来评估旨在遏制社交媒体上虚假新闻传播的政策干预措施。在2022年和2024年美国大选期间，我们在推特上进行了一项随机实验，评估了错误信息意识、事实核查、确认点击和内容考虑提示的启动。事实证明，启动在减少虚假新闻分享的同时保持真实新闻传播是最有效的。我们建立并从结构上估计了一个共享模型，其动机是党派说服、党派信号和声誉问题。我们确定了政策影响分享的三个渠道：(i)更新内容的感知真实性和党派关系，（ii）提高声誉的显著性，以及（iii）增加参与成本。政策效果的差异可以用显著性和成本渠道来解释。内容中立启动最能以最小的成本提高声誉的显著性，在更新准确性方面几乎与事实核查一样有效。当用户遇到无可争议的真实内容时，突出性渠道会更强大。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Econometrica 社会科学-数学跨学科应用

CiteScore

11.00

自引率

3.30%

发文量

审稿时长

6-12 weeks

期刊介绍： Econometrica publishes original articles in all branches of economics - theoretical and empirical, abstract and applied, providing wide-ranging coverage across the subject area. It promotes studies that aim at the unification of the theoretical-quantitative and the empirical-quantitative approach to economic problems and that are penetrated by constructive and rigorous thinking. It explores a unique range of topics each year - from the frontier of theoretical developments in many new and important areas, to research on current and applied economic problems, to methodologically innovative, theoretical and applied studies in econometrics. Econometrica maintains a long tradition that submitted articles are refereed carefully and that detailed and thoughtful referee reports are provided to the author as an aid to scientific research, thus ensuring the high calibre of papers found in Econometrica. An international board of editors, together with the referees it has selected, has succeeded in substantially reducing editorial turnaround time, thereby encouraging submissions of the highest quality. We strongly encourage recent Ph. D. graduates to submit their work to Econometrica. Our policy is to take into account the fact that recent graduates are less experienced in the process of writing and submitting papers.