Behavior Change Interventions Combating Online Misinformation A

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Dec 5, 2025, 4:38 PM

behavior change interventions combating online misinformation a

Nature Human Behaviour volume 8, pages 1044–1052 (2024)Cite this article The spread of misinformation through media and social networks threatens many aspects of society, including public health and the state of democracies. One approach to mitigating the effect of misinformation focuses on individual-level interventions, equipping policymakers and the public with essential tools to curb the spread and influence of falsehoods. Here we introduce a toolbox of individual-level interventions for reducing harm from online misinformation. Comprising an up-to-date account of interventions featured in 81 scientific papers from across the globe, the toolbox provides both a conceptual overview of nine main types of interventions, including their target, scope and examples,... The nine types of interventions covered are accuracy prompts, debunking and rebuttals, friction, inoculation, lateral reading and verification strategies, media-literacy tips, social norms, source-credibility labels, and warning and fact-checking labels.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription Received 2023 May 26; Accepted 2024 Apr 10; Issue date 2024. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit... The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material.

If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from... To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Current interventions to combat misinformation, including fact-checking, media literacy tips and media coverage of misinformation, may have unintended consequences for democracy. We propose that these interventions may increase scepticism towards all information, including accurate information. Across three online survey experiments in three diverse countries (the United States, Poland and Hong Kong; total n = 6,127), we tested the negative spillover effects of existing strategies and compared them with three... We examined how exposure to fact-checking, media literacy tips and media coverage of misinformation affects individuals’ perception of both factual and false information, as well as their trust in key democratic institutions.

Our results show that while all interventions successfully reduce belief in false information, they also negatively impact the credibility of factual information. This highlights the need for further improved strategies that minimize the harms and maximize the benefits of interventions against misinformation. Subject terms: Politics and international relations; Cultural and media studies; Science, technology and society This study reveals that current interventions against misinformation erode belief in accurate information. The authors argue that future strategies should shift their focus from only fighting falsehoods to also nurturing trust in reliable news. It is no secret that the internet, a hub for innovation and connection, has also become a fertile ground for misinformation.

From cleverly disguised clickbait to weaponized social media campaigns, untruths spread faster than a virtual wildfire. Every day, countless misleading posts flood our social feeds, challenging the fabric of democracy and directly affecting fields and industries, most notably public health. Fighting misinformation is not an easy task. The ever-increasing polarization and greater sophistication of bad actors make it a formidable foe.1,2 These bad actors within the disinformation network can range from state-sponsored troll farms spreading propaganda to political operatives manipulating public... It’s no surprise that the rise of generative AI has escalated the spread of disinformation and propaganda as never seen before.4 But all hope is not lost.

We must arm ourselves—not with pitchforks and torches, but with a far more potent weapon: evidence-based interventions. A study by a global team of 30 misinformation researchers led by Dr. Anastasia Kozyreva offers a much-needed "toolbox" of strategies empowering individuals to cut through the noise.5 Here's your guide to understanding and utilizing these tools effectively, categorized by their primary aim: influencing behaviors (nudges), boosting competencies (boosts), or directly targeting beliefs (refutation).

Behavior Change Interventions Combating Online Misinformation A

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Nature Human Behaviour Volume 8, Pages 1044–1052 (2024)Cite This Article

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Our Results Show That While All Interventions Successfully Reduce Belief

From Cleverly Disguised Clickbait To Weaponized Social Media Campaigns, Untruths