Correcting misinformation about the Russia-Ukraine War reduces false beliefs but does not change views about the War.

We report results from simultaneous experiments conducted in late 2022 in Belarus, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine. The experiments focus on fact-checking misinformation supportive of Russia in the Russia-Ukraine War. Meta-analysis makes clear that fact-checking misinformation reduces belief...

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Main Authors: Ethan Porter, R Bailey Scott, Thomas J Wood, Raushan Zhandayeva
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2024-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0307090
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author Ethan Porter
R Bailey Scott
Thomas J Wood
Raushan Zhandayeva
author_facet Ethan Porter
R Bailey Scott
Thomas J Wood
Raushan Zhandayeva
author_sort Ethan Porter
collection DOAJ
description We report results from simultaneous experiments conducted in late 2022 in Belarus, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine. The experiments focus on fact-checking misinformation supportive of Russia in the Russia-Ukraine War. Meta-analysis makes clear that fact-checking misinformation reduces belief in pro-Kremlin false claims. Effects of fact-checks are not uniform across countries; our meta-analytic estimate is reliant on belief accuracy increases observed in Russia and Ukraine. While fact-checks improve belief accuracy, they do not change respondents' attitudes about which side to support in the War. War does not render individuals hopelessly vulnerable to misinformation-but fact-checking misinformation is unlikely to change their views toward the conflict.
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institution Kabale University
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language English
publishDate 2024-01-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS ONE
spelling doaj-art-2f3965f066104e04a73011c7a0c1db1a2024-12-15T05:31:35ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032024-01-01199e030709010.1371/journal.pone.0307090Correcting misinformation about the Russia-Ukraine War reduces false beliefs but does not change views about the War.Ethan PorterR Bailey ScottThomas J WoodRaushan ZhandayevaWe report results from simultaneous experiments conducted in late 2022 in Belarus, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine. The experiments focus on fact-checking misinformation supportive of Russia in the Russia-Ukraine War. Meta-analysis makes clear that fact-checking misinformation reduces belief in pro-Kremlin false claims. Effects of fact-checks are not uniform across countries; our meta-analytic estimate is reliant on belief accuracy increases observed in Russia and Ukraine. While fact-checks improve belief accuracy, they do not change respondents' attitudes about which side to support in the War. War does not render individuals hopelessly vulnerable to misinformation-but fact-checking misinformation is unlikely to change their views toward the conflict.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0307090
spellingShingle Ethan Porter
R Bailey Scott
Thomas J Wood
Raushan Zhandayeva
Correcting misinformation about the Russia-Ukraine War reduces false beliefs but does not change views about the War.
PLoS ONE
title Correcting misinformation about the Russia-Ukraine War reduces false beliefs but does not change views about the War.
title_full Correcting misinformation about the Russia-Ukraine War reduces false beliefs but does not change views about the War.
title_fullStr Correcting misinformation about the Russia-Ukraine War reduces false beliefs but does not change views about the War.
title_full_unstemmed Correcting misinformation about the Russia-Ukraine War reduces false beliefs but does not change views about the War.
title_short Correcting misinformation about the Russia-Ukraine War reduces false beliefs but does not change views about the War.
title_sort correcting misinformation about the russia ukraine war reduces false beliefs but does not change views about the war
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0307090
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AT thomasjwood correctingmisinformationabouttherussiaukrainewarreducesfalsebeliefsbutdoesnotchangeviewsaboutthewar
AT raushanzhandayeva correctingmisinformationabouttherussiaukrainewarreducesfalsebeliefsbutdoesnotchangeviewsaboutthewar