Titel
Support for misinformation regulation on social media: It is the perceived harm of misinformation that matters, not the perceived amount
Autor*in
Isabelle Freiling
Department of Communication, University of Utah
Autor*in
Marlis Stubenvoll
Department of Media and Communications, University of Klagenfurt
Abstract
Responding to harmful content on social media, calls for regulations are coming up to break down the black boxes of social media platforms in handling misinformation. Examples are requiring cooperations with fact-checkers or the government stepping in. So far, there is a lack of knowledge about predictors of policy attitudes in the context of misinformation besides attitudes toward and perceptions of censorship. Using a two-wave panel study in Germany at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and 8 months in, we examine the role of perceived misinformation exposure, perceived harm of misinformation, and trust in institutions involved in regulating misinformation on public support for misinformation regulation. Results show that trust in media and democracy increases policy support over time. Furthermore, perceived exposure to misinformation does not influence policy attitudes, but perceived harm of misinformation does. We discuss the implications for regulating misinformation in light of our findings.
Stichwort
fact-checkingmisinformationpolicy supportsocial mediatrust
Objekt-Typ
Sprache
Englisch [eng]
Persistent identifier
https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:2040018
Erschienen in
Titel
Policy & Internet
Band
15
Ausgabe
4
ISSN
1944-2866
Erscheinungsdatum
2023
Seitenanfang
731
Seitenende
749
Verlag
Wiley
Erscheinungsdatum
2023
Zugänglichkeit
Rechteangabe
© 2023 The Authors

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