RALEIGH, N.C. (WPTF) – Trusted headlines, twisted reach? A new study in Nature finds that even reputable news stories can help fuel misinformation—especially when they’re passed around by users who also share fake news. Jon Green, Duke University Assistant Professor of Political Science, says the purpose of the study is to point fingers not just at the media but the people who share without taking proper care.
“One of the bigger points we’re trying to make in the article is that it’s easy to [categorize] information as either true or false or sources as either reliable or unreliable but information value depends a lot on how it’s used,” said Green.
Experts say some social media users are purposely posting reliable news to make their false claims look more credible and spread faster. People may think they are strategically repurposing information that is strictly speaking true but stitching it together in a way that serves to mislead an audience. However, it’s harder for mainstream outlets because people can find their own preferred versions of the truth very easily through other mediums.
“The Washington Post, during the pandemic, had a story about how after a certain critical mass of people had gotten vaccinated the base rates were such that the majority of people who were contracting COVID were also vaccinated,” said Green.
Green says you can imagine the people who were excited to share this article around — the ones who wanted to argue that the vaccine was ineffective and harmful. Sometimes the information and statistics are true, but the upshot depends on how people interpret it.
“The availability of that information is useful for promoting that narrative. The information is out there, it’s very easy to find and you can pick and choose how you want to use that information out in the world,” said Green.
It’s important to note that this is a very general phenomenon and not just prominent during events like the pandemic. The research suggests users are using trusted sources to make their own misleading narratives seem more convincing. Green says this is something we do frequently in a variety of contexts.
“I think it happens a lot when there are instances of, you know, contested interpretation of empirical reality ‘how dangerous is COVID and what should we do in response,’ is a very highly charged and contested kind of issue that lends itself to people trying to do a lot of their own research to support their own conclusions,” said Green.