Interventions to counter misinformation: individual- versus system-level approaches?

Jon Roozenbeek (Cambridge University)

Since 2016, an abundance of studies has been published testing the efficacy of interventions to counter misinformation. The vast majority of these studies has focused on either reducing susceptibility to misinformation or positively influencing people’s behaviour (such as reducing the sharing of unwanted content). In this talk, Jon Roozenbeek discusses the evidence base behind these types of individual-level interventions, and how they may be applied in real-world settings. An important point of discussion will be the problems associated with an asymmetric focus of individual-level (“i-frame”) over system-level (“s-frame”) approaches. For instance, high-quality field studies on social media are expensive and difficult to run, and often require collaboration and funding from social media companies, making them almost impossible to replicate. Tackling misinformation at the individual level, while useful, might also distract from considering more systemic approaches (such as addressing recommender algorithms). 

The seminar will take place in person as well as in this virtual room.