A Panel Survey on the Antecedents and Consequences of Fake News Believability in the German Parliamentary Elections
Disinformation campaigns try to undermine the voters’ ability to make their decisions on the basis of accurate beliefs. This involves a danger for the quality and legitimacy of the democratic process, as a well-informed electorate is essential for an efficient collective self-determination of democracies.
I present a panel survey on the believability and the electoral consequences of online-spread fake news in the German parliamentary elections 2017 (N = 989). Results show that a right-wing political ideology facilitates belief in fake news, while news media literacy and trust in traditional news media diminish it. A truth effect regarding fake news elicited by social media news use was ruled out.
Furthermore, the perceived truthfulness of fake news did not predict individual vote choice. In the light of our study, the dangers of fake news for the democratic process can be deemed limited, for now.
Matthias Kohring is professor of Media and Communication Studies at the University of Mannheim, Germany. His research addresses public communication, journalism theory, trust in news media, and science communication.
The survey he will present was coauthored by Fabian Zimmermann, University of Mannheim.