Fake News, Real Consequences
An Experimental Approach to Prevent People from Falling for Fake
News
Course: Behavioural Change Approaches to
Cybersecurity
Programme: MSc Cybersecurity Governance
Word count (excluding references/bibliography): 4998
,1. Background of the problem: fake news in perspective
1.1 Introduction
‘Fake news’ has been a hot-topic in academia for the past decade (Statista 2020; Tandoc et al.
2018; Allcott & Gentzkow 2017). A well-known example of fake news having real-life
consequences is that of the shooting of a pizza shop in Washington D.C. - known as
‘#pizzagate’. The shop was targeted because of the conspiracy spread via fake news that the
shop was the center of a pedophile sex ring, which was not the case (Imamura 2017). One
could argue that #pizzagate was an abnormality and not a common consequence of fake
news, which makes it important to delineate why fake news is considered problematic in this
paper. This is why in the following sections: (1) a definition of fake news will be presented, (2)
the background of the phenomenon will be depicted and (3) an accompanying problem
definition will be presented.
1.2 What is fake news?
In this paper, ‘fake news’ is defined as articles, photos, videos, audio clips or texts conveying
information that is “intentionally and verifiably false, and that could mislead readers” (Allcott &
Gentzkow 2017: 213; Tandoc et al. 2018: 141, 144). These untruthful messages can be
categorised in sub-definitions: “(1) news satire, (2) news parody, (3) fabrication, (4)
manipulation, (5) advertising and (6) propaganda” (idem: 147). Moreover, these messages are
mostly shared via social media (Li 2019: 7-8). Within the existence of fake news, there is also a
spectrum of seven types of mis-and disinformation (see Figure 1).
Figure 1 - 7 types of Mis- and Disinformation (Waldrop 2017: 12632).
, 1
1.3 The problem of fake news
In order to delineate the extent of a problem, it is essential to create a problem definition (Van
Vugt & Buunk 2013: 23-54).
1.3.1 What is the problem and why is it a problem?
The problem surrounding fake news is that (some) people assess fake news stories as being
truthful. This has various consequences:
(1) Politically, citizens believing fake news has led to a decrease in trust in institutions and
mass media and an increase in polarization in the United States and other western
democracies, all of which are factors considered to be detrimental to a well-functioning
liberal democracy (Allen et al. 2020: 1; Waldrop 2017: 12632; Allcott & Gentzkow 2017:
215; Riebe et al. 2018: 601). Additionally, during the current COVID-19 pandemic, fake
news can have a great impact on public health because of conspiracies, leading
individuals to disregard social distancing guidelines and to put themselves and others
at risk (Al-Zaman 2020: 2).
(2) Socially, believing fake news can lead to an increase in racism. In the early stages of
COVID-19, the spread of false information has led to more racist behaviour towards
Asians (Shimizu 2020). Fake news is sometimes used by politically motivated actors as
a tool to spread untruthful stories about groups they dislike, something known as ‘hate
news’ (Rochlin 2017: 388; Tandoc 2018: 146). Minorities, such as people of colour and
LGBTQ+ people, are proportionately targeted by this fake hate news. Consequently,
believing this fake news can lead to an increase in the stigmatisation and stereotyping
of minority groups (Sfichi & Lavaric 2020: 240; Strand & Svensson 2019: 77; Shrestha
2018: 35).
(3) Cybersecurity-wise, fake news is being used by attackers as a “content-based social
engineering attack, or weaponization of information to compromise corporate
information assets”, thus putting people at risk (Maasberg et al. 2018: 3718; Buchanan
& Benson 2019: 2).
Historically, in the printing press times, the amount of people reading and receiving news
articles was limited. The increase in literacy, emergence of globalisation, and the Internet has
dramatically increased the problem of people being subjected to fake news (ibid.; Flew &
Iosifidis 2020: 19; Egelhofer & Lecheler 2019: 102; Schulz et al. 2020: 201). Over the past five
years, especially since the 2016 US election, fake news has increased dramatically (Owen
2019; Graham 2019).
1.3.2 For whom is it a problem?
Firstly, there are the recipients of fake news who believe the story (to be called the believers
hereafter). Secondly, you have the recipients of fake news who tend to not ‘fall’ for the story,
An Experimental Approach to Prevent People from Falling for Fake
News
Course: Behavioural Change Approaches to
Cybersecurity
Programme: MSc Cybersecurity Governance
Word count (excluding references/bibliography): 4998
,1. Background of the problem: fake news in perspective
1.1 Introduction
‘Fake news’ has been a hot-topic in academia for the past decade (Statista 2020; Tandoc et al.
2018; Allcott & Gentzkow 2017). A well-known example of fake news having real-life
consequences is that of the shooting of a pizza shop in Washington D.C. - known as
‘#pizzagate’. The shop was targeted because of the conspiracy spread via fake news that the
shop was the center of a pedophile sex ring, which was not the case (Imamura 2017). One
could argue that #pizzagate was an abnormality and not a common consequence of fake
news, which makes it important to delineate why fake news is considered problematic in this
paper. This is why in the following sections: (1) a definition of fake news will be presented, (2)
the background of the phenomenon will be depicted and (3) an accompanying problem
definition will be presented.
1.2 What is fake news?
In this paper, ‘fake news’ is defined as articles, photos, videos, audio clips or texts conveying
information that is “intentionally and verifiably false, and that could mislead readers” (Allcott &
Gentzkow 2017: 213; Tandoc et al. 2018: 141, 144). These untruthful messages can be
categorised in sub-definitions: “(1) news satire, (2) news parody, (3) fabrication, (4)
manipulation, (5) advertising and (6) propaganda” (idem: 147). Moreover, these messages are
mostly shared via social media (Li 2019: 7-8). Within the existence of fake news, there is also a
spectrum of seven types of mis-and disinformation (see Figure 1).
Figure 1 - 7 types of Mis- and Disinformation (Waldrop 2017: 12632).
, 1
1.3 The problem of fake news
In order to delineate the extent of a problem, it is essential to create a problem definition (Van
Vugt & Buunk 2013: 23-54).
1.3.1 What is the problem and why is it a problem?
The problem surrounding fake news is that (some) people assess fake news stories as being
truthful. This has various consequences:
(1) Politically, citizens believing fake news has led to a decrease in trust in institutions and
mass media and an increase in polarization in the United States and other western
democracies, all of which are factors considered to be detrimental to a well-functioning
liberal democracy (Allen et al. 2020: 1; Waldrop 2017: 12632; Allcott & Gentzkow 2017:
215; Riebe et al. 2018: 601). Additionally, during the current COVID-19 pandemic, fake
news can have a great impact on public health because of conspiracies, leading
individuals to disregard social distancing guidelines and to put themselves and others
at risk (Al-Zaman 2020: 2).
(2) Socially, believing fake news can lead to an increase in racism. In the early stages of
COVID-19, the spread of false information has led to more racist behaviour towards
Asians (Shimizu 2020). Fake news is sometimes used by politically motivated actors as
a tool to spread untruthful stories about groups they dislike, something known as ‘hate
news’ (Rochlin 2017: 388; Tandoc 2018: 146). Minorities, such as people of colour and
LGBTQ+ people, are proportionately targeted by this fake hate news. Consequently,
believing this fake news can lead to an increase in the stigmatisation and stereotyping
of minority groups (Sfichi & Lavaric 2020: 240; Strand & Svensson 2019: 77; Shrestha
2018: 35).
(3) Cybersecurity-wise, fake news is being used by attackers as a “content-based social
engineering attack, or weaponization of information to compromise corporate
information assets”, thus putting people at risk (Maasberg et al. 2018: 3718; Buchanan
& Benson 2019: 2).
Historically, in the printing press times, the amount of people reading and receiving news
articles was limited. The increase in literacy, emergence of globalisation, and the Internet has
dramatically increased the problem of people being subjected to fake news (ibid.; Flew &
Iosifidis 2020: 19; Egelhofer & Lecheler 2019: 102; Schulz et al. 2020: 201). Over the past five
years, especially since the 2016 US election, fake news has increased dramatically (Owen
2019; Graham 2019).
1.3.2 For whom is it a problem?
Firstly, there are the recipients of fake news who believe the story (to be called the believers
hereafter). Secondly, you have the recipients of fake news who tend to not ‘fall’ for the story,
