“Our belief in free will is ultimately a reason so many of us back democracy in the first place. Denying it can arguably be more damaging than a few fake news posts lurking on social media.”
Highly impulsive people who lean conservative are more likely to share false news stories. They have a desire to create chaos and won’t be deterred by fact-checkers.
“Some participants even developed false memories about the fake stories they had read…’Remembering’ previously hearing a fake COVID-19 story seemed to make some people in our study more likely to act in a certain way.”
Plus: “Partisanship turned out to be the strongest predictor of Americans’ knowledge, even surpassing education,” and how local news organizations fought Covid-19 misinformation in their communities.
Americans who share fake news on social media might not lack media literacy skills. Chances are they don’t stop to check accuracy, a new study suggests.
By arguing with a message, you are spreading it further. This matters, because if more people see it, or see it more often, it will have an even greater effect.
Meanwhile, Republican Sen. Mike Lee says fact-checking is a form of censorship, and Wikipedia explains how it plans to fight Election Day misinformation.
The far-right site The Gateway Pundit was by far was the most-shared fake news domain; in some months, its stories were shared almost as often as stories from The New York Times, The Washington Post, and CNN.
Owen, Laura Hazard. "Older people and Republicans are most likely to share Covid-19 stories from fake news sites on Twitter." Nieman Journalism Lab. Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, 26 Oct. 2020. Web. 27 Mar. 2024.
APA
Owen, L. (2020, Oct. 26). Older people and Republicans are most likely to share Covid-19 stories from fake news sites on Twitter. Nieman Journalism Lab. Retrieved March 27, 2024, from https://www.niemanlab.org/2020/10/older-people-and-republicans-are-most-likely-to-share-covid-19-stories-from-fake-news-sites-on-twitter/
Chicago
Owen, Laura Hazard. "Older people and Republicans are most likely to share Covid-19 stories from fake news sites on Twitter." Nieman Journalism Lab. Last modified October 26, 2020. Accessed March 27, 2024. https://www.niemanlab.org/2020/10/older-people-and-republicans-are-most-likely-to-share-covid-19-stories-from-fake-news-sites-on-twitter/.
Wikipedia
{{cite web
| url = https://www.niemanlab.org/2020/10/older-people-and-republicans-are-most-likely-to-share-covid-19-stories-from-fake-news-sites-on-twitter/
| title = Older people and Republicans are most likely to share Covid-19 stories from fake news sites on Twitter
| last = Owen
| first = Laura Hazard
| work = [[Nieman Journalism Lab]]
| date = 26 October 2020
| accessdate = 27 March 2024
| ref = {{harvid|Owen|2020}}
}}