Economics of misinformation
Social media platforms have taken steps to limit the spread of misinformation online. In this report, Cisternas et al. evaluate the efficacy of three interventions implemented so far:
- Promoted the services of third-party fact-checkers: this intervention lowers the verification costs borne by users when searching for information to validate news. Cisternas et al . find that such a policy induces “entry” by users who originally found it too risky to share when verification was prohibitively costly for them. As a result, the pass-through of misinformation is unchanged.
- Put in place policies that attempt to reduce the profitability of peddling false information, thereby reducing its supply. For this policy, the authors find that the diffusion of fake content increases because users’ verification incentives are weakened in the process, as news items become more likely to be truthful.
- Implemented internal filters that assess the veracity of news articles, removing those that are deemed false before they reach users. This policy can backfire especially since it promotes a false sense of protection against misinformation and as a result users becomes more confident of the veracity of these filters and less inclined to verify content, thereby increasing unverified sharing.
Breaking Down the Market for Misinformation
By: Gonzalo Cisternas, Jorge Vásquez – Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Some user data from Twitter
Social platforms, argues Rafael Jiménez-Durán, must strike a balance between increasing engagement from those who like moderation and not angering too much those who dislike it. Too much moderation, as when Twitter blocked Donald Trump’s account, led some users to flee to Gab—a platform known for its far-right user base. Too little moderation, as it was believed would be the outcome of Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, led some users to flee to Mastadon, a social platform that is considered to be a safer, decentralized alternative.
The Economics of Content Moderation on Social Media
By: Rafael Jiménez-Durán – University of Chicago
Should Twitter be regulated? Opinions in the US and Europe
US:
Europe:
Twitter – US
Twitter – Europe
By: The initiative on global markets – University of Chicago
