Online Information Environment
In the digital age, true and false information spreads rapidly on social media. CSMaP experts study how we consume and share news online and the impact the online information environment has on our democracy.
Academic Research
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Journal Article
How Language Shapes Belief in Misinformation: A Study Among Multilinguals in Ukraine
Journal of Experimental Political Science, 2025
Scholarship has identified key determinants of people’s belief in misinformation predominantly from English-language contexts. However, multilingual citizens often consume news media in multiple languages. We study how the language of consumption affects belief in misinformation and true news articles in multilingual environments. We suggest that language may pass on specific cues affecting how bilinguals evaluate information. In a ten-week survey experiment with bilingual adults in Ukraine, we measured if subjects evaluating information in their less-preferred language were less likely to believe it. We find those who prefer Ukrainian are less likely to believe both false and true stories written in Russian by approximately 0.2 standard deviation units. Conversely, those who prefer Russian show increased belief in false stories in Ukrainian, though this effect is less robust. A secondary digital media literacy intervention does not increase discernment as it reduces belief in both true and false stories equally.
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Journal Article
Misinformation Beyond Traditional Feeds: Evidence from a WhatsApp Deactivation Experiment in Brazil
The Journal of Politics, 2025
In most advanced democracies, concerns about the spread of misinformation are typically associated with feed-based social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. These platforms also account for the vast majority of research on the topic. However, in most of the world, particularly in Global South countries, misinformation often reaches citizens through social media messaging apps, particularly WhatsApp. To fill the resulting gap in the literature, we conducted a multimedia deactivation experiment to test the impact of reducing exposure to potential sources of misinformation on WhatsApp during the weeks leading up to the 2022 Presidential election in Brazil. We find that this intervention significantly reduced participants’ recall of false rumors circulating widely during the election. However, consistent with theories of mass media minimal effects, a short-term change in the information environment did not lead to significant changes in belief accuracy, political polarization, or well-being.
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
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
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Policy
Comments on Ofcom’s Call for Evidence on Researcher Access
We responded to Ofcom’s public request for evidence on researcher access to online service data for safety research, highlighting barriers researchers face when accessing social media data, the challenges of limited information sharing, potential ways to improve data access, and examples of robust data-sharing practices.
July 26, 2025