Phil 9.15.21

The global effectiveness of fact-checking: Evidence from simultaneous experiments in Argentina, Nigeria, South Africa, and the United Kingdom

  • The spread of misinformation is a global phenomenon, with implications for elections, state-sanctioned violence, and health outcomes. Yet, even though scholars have investigated the capacity of fact-checking to reduce belief in misinformation, little evidence exists on the global effectiveness of this approach. We describe fact-checking experiments conducted simultaneously in Argentina, Nigeria, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, in which we studied whether fact-checking can durably reduce belief in misinformation. In total, we evaluated 22 fact-checks, including two that were tested in all four countries. Fact-checking reduced belief in misinformation, with most effects still apparent more than 2 weeks later. A meta-analytic procedure indicates that fact-checks reduced belief in misinformation by at least 0.59 points on a 5-point scale. Exposure to misinformation, however, only increased false beliefs by less than 0.07 points on the same scale. Across continents, fact-checks reduce belief in misinformation, often durably so.

GPT Agents

  • Finished reading in Andreea’s data. I’m going to add a column called ‘test’, that has some text in it to judge the quality of training. I’m going to start out with ‘ten’, ‘twenty’, ‘thirty’, and ‘forty’, which will show up in those percentages. We’ll be able to compare the percentages in the generated and the original. Done with the original
  • Create corpora and start training model.
  • Built corpora
  • Training!
  • Done! Need to verify the test percentages
[[[month:August location:Auckland text:@rnz_news @NZStuff @minhealthnz @NewshubNZ @jacindaardern @simonjbridges @nzlabour I have a few theories but they are completely illogical. My theory is that many in government and opposition are too trusting, while many in the media are too partisan. #covid19nz #covid19_nz #nzpol, test:twenty]]][[[month:August location:New Zealand text:Dr Liz Gordon: NZ’s Covid-19 response a failure

[[[month:April location:New Zealand text:“As they travel around the world, as we go back to the U.S., it is critical that they be able to meet with health officials and other trusted advisers to update their status”. https://t.co/7kZk6HtRcV #covid19nz #Healthandsafety, test:forty]]][[[month:April location:Wellington City, New Zealand text:It's getting harder and harder to resist the temptation to throw shade at the PM's leadership. She's deliberately and deliberately slipping up

[[[month:April location:Wellington, New Zealand text:New Zealand will now have a COVID-19 emergency alert system. A system based on scientific certainty, based on best informed research. The sooner we use science the sooner we’ll all get back to normal life. This is a global challenge. https://t.co/YFpI6zWgv7 #coronavirus #COVID19nz, test:forty]]][[[month:April location:Wellington text:New Zealand is now in #COVID19nz mode. The system works

[[[month:April location:New Zealand text:A month of #Covid19nz has taught me to trust #SocialDistancing and not to accept #selfishness. So much of #NZtourism comes from poor, vulnerable, and elderly people. If you or someone you know has #Covid19NZ symptoms, please report them to contact tracing at 0800 451 9453 https://t.co/Jw2i0U8Jqn, test:forty]]][[[month:April location:New Zealand text:@MatthewHootonNZ @TheAMShowNZ

[[[month:May location:Auckland, NZ text:#coronavirusnz #COVID19nz One of the new covid-19 cases reported in Queenstown this week is a case in the community. https://t.co/XmqEZd2aDw, test:forty]]][[[month:May location:Muriwai, Aotearoa text:Māori Health Minister Māori Party @RikkiRakaka @nzlabour https://t.co/gwqEZqNrA7 #COVID19 #CO

[[[month:May location:Wellington, New Zealand text:This is a welcome relief to many. Here's an idea: don't just sell as much as you can. Instead, take out the cash and start collecting. #COVID19nz, test:forty]]][[[month:May location:0 text:Can't say my children are very good at math - and in math classes I find they get lots of confused - but when I read someone ask them "how many years of age do they still live with?", they instantly burst into laughter. #nzpol #covid19nz

[[[month:April location:Auckland, New Zealand text:Great article by @Kiwi_Country to explain the importance of #COVID19nz and how to use your personal details to protect your community. Great info in the article https://t.co/v9L0GtX8z3 https://t.co/s3Nm3z3qCZ, test:ten]]][[[month:April location:Auckland, New Zealand text:My thoughts: #covid19NZ #NewZealandLockdown https://t.co

[[[month:June location:Aotearoa, New Zealand text:?‍♂️ #Covid_19 #COVID19nz https://t.co/Nb8Cq8xFZJ, test:forty]]][[[month:June location:Te Upoko o Te Ika a Maui text:Māori #COVID19nz #lockdownnz https://t.co/tS9QjkFZhM, test:forty]]][[[month:June location:Christchurch City, New Zealand text:What
[[[month:June location:Auckland, New Zealand text:It's important to be clear about the amount of work we can do to safeguard the community and the health and wellbeing of NZers. Read this: https://t.co/vh0MxwKlG7 #COVID19nz, test:forty]]][[[month:June location:New Zealand text:“All the good work that the Govt's emergency plans have done” @SiouxsieW #covid19nz https://t.co/fDZFdZJ0

[[[month:March location:Wellington City, New Zealand text:RT TheDailyBlogNZ "Life in Lock Down: Day 2 | Frank Macskasy - The Daily Blog https://t.co/4tP8dZZWmA #nzpol #covid19nz https://t.co/HmDw5BcE5j", test:forty]]][[[month:March location:0 text:Life in Lock Down: Day 2 | Frank Macskasy - The Daily Blog https://t.co/xWZFyLk3

[[[month:April location:New Zealand text:MEDIA WATCH: Jacinda destroys Duncan Garner | The Daily Blog https://t.co/Hk5VZ9oTkC #nzpol #covid19nz https://t.co/p7tMkLH9Rk", test:ten]]][[[month:April location:New Zealand text:GUEST BLOG: Geoff Simmons – The Price of Citizenship | The Daily Blog https://t.co/JKc0NqEqH #nzpol #covid19nz https://t.
  • 4:15 UMBC Meeting. We’ll try French, Chinese, (and Mexican) to see if the ratings change

SBIRs