Review of social science research on the impact of countermeasures against influence operations

Abstract

Despite ongoing discussion of the need for increased regulation and oversight of social media, as well as debate over the extent to which the platforms themselves should be responsible for containing misinformation, there is little consensus on which interventions work to address the problem of influence operations and disinformation campaigns. To provide policymakers and scholars a baseline on academic evidence about the efficacy of countermeasures, the Empirical Studies of Conflict Project conducted a systematic review of research articles that aimed to estimate the impact of interventions that could reduce the impact of misinformation.

Understanding and neutralising covid-19 misinformation and disinformation

“…25 Looking at outcomes such as beliefs, intended behaviour, knowledge, and observed behaviour, the studies indicate that fact checking can reduce the influence of exposure to false information on people's beliefs as well as their propensity to share misinformation and disinformation. 25 In terms of fact checking interventions, most of the included studies evaluated the effects of disinformation disclosure, which is when the platform informs a user that they have come in contact, shared, or interacted with disinformation; many others studied content labelling using a fact checking tag, funding tag or outdated tag, and some examined interventions that educate users to identify disinformation. 25 Although most of these countermeasures are proved effective, they don't represent the major interventions used by social media platforms in the real world, such as content moderation (removal or suspension of account or content).…”

“…25 In terms of fact checking interventions, most of the included studies evaluated the effects of disinformation disclosure, which is when the platform informs a user that they have come in contact, shared, or interacted with disinformation; many others studied content labelling using a fact checking tag, funding tag or outdated tag, and some examined interventions that educate users to identify disinformation. 25 Although most of these countermeasures are proved effective, they don't represent the major interventions used by social media platforms in the real world, such as content moderation (removal or suspension of account or content). 25 Using randomised experiments based on a hypothetical scenario that includes information that is later refuted, two studies in cognitive psychology identified a "continued influence effect" of misinformation.…”

“…25 Although most of these countermeasures are proved effective, they don't represent the major interventions used by social media platforms in the real world, such as content moderation (removal or suspension of account or content). 25 Using randomised experiments based on a hypothetical scenario that includes information that is later refuted, two studies in cognitive psychology identified a "continued influence effect" of misinformation. 26 27 Even after retraction or warning that certain information was incorrect, the retracted facts continued to stick to memory and shape how some people interpreted events.…”

“…30 -33 When reading this literature, however, one must differentiate the effects on beliefs, intended behaviour, and knowledge. 25 Moreover, the existing literature primarily reports on experimental designs in laboratory or survey settings, with relatively little research on real world behaviours. 26 34 Empirical studies on the nature of and countermeasures against groups promoting misinformation and disinformation that have gained political and social influence are still lacking.…”

Digital Resilience in Dealing with Misinformation on Social Media during COVID-19

“…Various works capture the diverse technical countermeasures both proposed and undertaken by research and social media platforms (Courchesne et al, 2021;Yadav, 2021;Gausen et al, 2021). Roughly, it is differentiated between deletion, redirection or reduction of visibility of posts, and behavioral approaches tackling users' perception of social media content by warnings or labeling.…”