Media Consumption
Social media has altered the way we consume and interact with different forms of media. CSMaP experts analyze the real-world implications of our online consumption, and how it impacts the political landscape.
Academic Research
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Working Paper
Do Age-Verification Bills Change Search Behavior? A Pre-Registered Synthetic Control Multiverse
Working Paper, March 2025
In January 2023, Louisiana enacted Act 440, requiring websites containing substantial adult content to verify users’ ages through government-issued identification or commercial verification services. Since the passing of this legislation, 17 additional states have adopted similar laws. Using Google Trends data and a preregistered synthetic control design, this paper examines the impact of these age verification requirements on digital behavior across four key dimensions: searches for the largest compliant website, the largest non-compliant website, VPN services, and adult content generally.Three months after the laws were passed, Our analysis reveals a 51% reduction in searches for the dominant compliant platform, accompanied by significant increases in searches for both the dominant non-compliant platform (48.1%) and VPN services (23.6%). Through multiverse analyses that incorporate multiple specifications and control group constructions, we demonstrate the robustness of these behavioral changes. Our point estimates remain consistent with our pre-registered hypotheses across 3,200 point estimates. Our findings highlight that while these regulation efforts reduce traffic to compliant firms and likely a net reduction overall to this type of content, individuals adapt primarily by moving to content providers that do not require age verification. Our methodological approach offers a framework for real-time policy evaluation in contexts with staggered treatment adoption.
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Journal Article
Understanding Latino Political Engagement and Activity on Social Media
Political Research Quarterly, 2025
Reports & Analysis
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Analysis
Reducing Exposure To Misinformation: Evidence from WhatsApp in Brazil
Deactivating multimedia on WhatsApp in Brazil consistently reduced exposure to online misinformation during the pre-election weeks in 2022, but did not impact whether false news was believed, or reduce polarization.
August 16, 2024
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Analysis
Latinos Who Use Spanish-Language Social Media Get More Misinformation
That could affect their votes — and their safety from covid-19.
November 8, 2022
News & Commentary
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Policy
When Age Assurance Laws Meet Chatbots
New and existing age assurance laws have not been written with AI chatbots in mind. Our expert discuss what legislators can do to adjust existing rules for technologies that do not fit the platform model they were built for.
September 5, 2025
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Policy
We Failed The Misinformation Fight. Now What?
At a precarious moment in misinformation research, our experts argue that the paradigm of the “misinformation field” has overstated online misinformation’s role in politics, ignored much of what we know about how communication functions, and directed attention to strategies ill-suited to today’s information environment
August 26, 2025