Why Do Social Media Users Accept, Doubt or Resist Corrective Information? A Qualitative Analysis of Comments in Response to Corrective Information on Social Media

Abstract

ABSTRACT Although the widespread application of corrective information has been found to lower the credibility of misinformation, there may be important sources of resistance among social media users that potentially limit the effectiveness of fact-checking, warning messages, and community-based verifications. Yet, to date, we lack an inductive and context-bound understanding of users’ responses to these different applications, and the reasons why users distrust or avoid corrections online. Against this backdrop, this paper relies on an in-depth qualitative content analysis of responses to different forms of corrective information on Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok. The study’s main findings inform a typology of resistance consisting of (1) expressing doubts on the selection biases of corrective information; (2) challenging the evidence and conclusions of corrective information; (3) blaming the correction for being biased and/or partisan and (4) labeling the correction or intervention as disinformation itself. The implications for journalism practice and content moderation are discussed.