Exposure to untrustworthy websites in the 2020 US election

Research using large-scale data on individuals’ internet use has provided vital information about the scope and nature of exposure to misinformation online. However, most prior work relies on data collected during the 2016 US election. Here we examine exposure to untrustworthy websites during the 20...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature human behaviour 2023-07, Vol.7 (7), p.1096-1105
Main Authors: Moore, Ryan C., Dahlke, Ross, Hancock, Jeffrey T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
4014/4003
4014/4012
Aged
Behavioral Sciences
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Communication
Confidence intervals
Elections
Experimental Psychology
False information
Humans
Life Sciences
Microeconomics
Misinformation
Neurosciences
Older people
Personality and Social Psychology
Politics
United States
Websites
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Summary:Research using large-scale data on individuals’ internet use has provided vital information about the scope and nature of exposure to misinformation online. However, most prior work relies on data collected during the 2016 US election. Here we examine exposure to untrustworthy websites during the 2020 US election, using over 7.5 million website visits from 1,151 American adults. We find that 26.2% (95% confidence interval 22.5% to 29.8%) of Americans were exposed to untrustworthy websites in 2020, down from 44.3% (95% confidence interval 40.8% to 47.7%) in 2016. Older adults and conservatives continued to be the most exposed in 2020 as in 2016, albeit at lower rates. The role of online platforms in exposing people to untrustworthy websites changed, with Facebook playing a smaller role in 2020 than in 2016. Our findings do not minimize misinformation as a key social problem, but instead highlight important changes in its consumption, suggesting directions for future research and practice. Moore et al. find that fewer Americans visited misinformation websites during the 2020 election compared with the 2016 election. However, demographic groups more likely to be exposed to misinformation in 2016 remained more likely to be exposed in 2020.
ISSN:2397-3374
2397-3374
DOI:10.1038/s41562-023-01564-2