Fake news detection and social media trust: a cross-cultural perspective

Amal Dabbous, Karine Aoun Barakat and Beatriz de Quero Navarro

Behaviour and Information Technology, 2022, vol. 41, issue 14, 2953-2972

Abstract: Social media is increasingly being used worldwide to produce and exchange information. However, the absence of adequate control mechanisms on this medium has led to concerns about the credibility of information in circulation. While this topic has gained researchers’ attention, little is known about the factors which allow individuals to detect fake news and lead them to trust social media as a source of information, and whether this varies across cultures. This cross-cultural study conducted in Spain and Lebanon uses structural equation modelling to explore these factors and presents them within a behavioural model. Findings show that verification behaviour, information skills and education have a positive influence on fake news detection with a stronger impact in Lebanon. Trust is positively affected by virality with higher influence in Lebanon, while ability to detect is shown to decrease trust in Spain. Frequency of use impacts trust equally in both countries.

Date: 2022
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/0144929X.2021.1963475 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:tbitxx:v:41:y:2022:i:14:p:2953-2972

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/tbit20

DOI: 10.1080/0144929X.2021.1963475

Access Statistics for this article

Behaviour and Information Technology is currently edited by Dr Panos P Markopoulos

More articles in Behaviour and Information Technology from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().