What do you see as the biggest challenge regarding fake news as a communication scientist?
'What goes wrong is that most measures against fake news are primarily focused on preventing that people believe misinformation. The idea is more or less: as long as people don't believe in it, then it's fine. However, research from our team now shows that even if people don't necessarily believe the news, it still influences their thoughts, opinions, and behaviour. For instance, if you read a report about a CEO committing fraud, your opinion about that person will still be more negative than before you read the report, even if it is later corrected. We tend to think, where there’s smoke, there’s fire.'
If fake news, even when corrected, has such an influence on us, can we still win the battle?
'Lately, we are seeing a kind of domino effect where people, due to all the attention surrounding fake news, are becoming more skeptical towards all information. Warnings about fake news sometimes have a counterproductive effect and cause people to doubt even reliable information. Tips on recognising misinformation, checking links in misinformation, and verifying photos won't win us the battle.'
'What we can do is make people trust clear and reliable information more. For example, by directing social media users to good information, like during the COVID pandemic when referrals were made to the WHO (World Health Organization). Also, by providing insight into how journalists work, journalistic codes they must adhere to, and that they cannot just make random assertions.'
You previously researched humour. Can we draw a line from humour to fake news?
'Absolutely. I am currently researching whether humour can be used as an effective fact-checking strategy. I spend a lot of time on TikTok these days and encounter a lot of misinformation, for example about contraception. Later, I saw a satirical piece on it at Arjen Lubach’s evening show. I want to see if this kind of humour is a better way to fact-check than the factual, business-like approach that is often standard.'
