Mistakenly misinformed or intentionally deceived? Mis- and Disinformation perceptions on the Russian War in Ukraine among citizens in 19 countries

In information environments characterized by institutional distrust, fragmentation and the widespread dissemination of conspiracies and disinformation, citizens perceive misinformation as a salient and threatening issue. Especially amidst disruptive events and crises, news users are likely to believ...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Cardenal, Ana S., Hameleers, Michael, Tulin, Marina, de Vreese, Claes, Aalberg, Toril, van aelst, peter, Corbu, Nicoleta, Van ERKEL, PATRICK, Esser, Frank, Gehle, Luisa, Halagiera, Denis, HOPMANN, DAVID, Koc-Michalska, Karolina, Matthes, Jörg, Meltzer, Christine E., Mihelj, Sabina, SCHEMER, CHRISTIAN, SPLENDORE, SERGIO, STANYR, JAMES, STEPINSKA, AGNIESZKA, Stetka, Vaclav, Stromback, Jesper, Terren, Ludovic, Theocharis, Yannis, Zoizner, Alon
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2023
Country:España
Institution:Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC)
Repository:O2, repositorio institucional de la UOC
OAI Identifier:oai:openaccess.uoc.edu:10609/153160
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10609/153160
http://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.12646
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:credibility
disinformation
media trust
misinformation
trustworthiness
Description
Summary:In information environments characterized by institutional distrust, fragmentation and the widespread dissemination of conspiracies and disinformation, citizens perceive misinformation as a salient and threatening issue. Especially amidst disruptive events and crises, news users are likely to believe that information is inaccurate or deceptive. Using an original 19-country comparative survey study across diverse regions in the world (N = 19,037), we find that news users are likely to regard information on the Russian war in Ukraine as false. They are more likely to attribute false information to deliberative deception than to a lack of access to the war area or inaccurate expert knowledge. Russian sources are substantially more likely to be blamed for falsehoods than Ukrainian or Western sources – but these attribution biases depend on a country's position on the war. Our findings reveal that people mostly believe that falsehoods are intended to deceive them, and selectively associate misinformation with the opposed camp.

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