Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/283304 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
ECONtribute Discussion Paper No. 262
Publisher: 
University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Reinhard Selten Institute (RSI), Bonn and Cologne
Abstract: 
We conduct a randomized survey experiment to compare the short- and longer-term effects of fact checking to a brief media literacy intervention. We show that the impact of fact checking is limited to the corrected fake news, whereas media literacy helps to distinguish between false and correct information more generally, both immediately and two weeks after the intervention. A plausible mechanism is that media literacy enables participants to critically evaluate social media postings, while fact checking fails to enhance their skills. Our results promote media literacy as an effective tool to fight fake news, that is cheap, scalable, and easy-to-implement.
Subjects: 
Covid
Facebook
fact checking
fake news
media literacy
misinformation
nutrition
social media
supplements
survey experiment
vaccine
JEL: 
L51
L82
Z18
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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