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Sharing News Left and Right: Frictions and Misinformation on Twitter

Author

Listed:
  • Daniel Ershov
  • Juan S Morales

Abstract

On 20 October 2020, prior to the US presidential election, Twitter modified its user interface for sharing social media posts. In an effort to reduce the spread of misinformation on the platform, the new interface nudged users to be thoughtful about the content they were sharing. Using data on over 160,000 tweets by US news media outlets, we show that this policy significantly reduced news sharing, but that the reductions varied heterogeneously by political slant: sharing of content fell significantly more for left-wing outlets relative to right-wing outlets. Examining Twitter activity data for news-sharing users, we find that conservatives were less responsive to Twitter’s intervention. Lastly, using web traffic data, we document that the policy significantly reduced visits to news media outlets’ websites.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel Ershov & Juan S Morales, 2024. "Sharing News Left and Right: Frictions and Misinformation on Twitter," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 134(662), pages 2391-2417.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:econjl:v:134:y:2024:i:662:p:2391-2417.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/ej/ueae027
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    Cited by:

    1. Sacha Altay & Emma Hoes & Magdalena Wojcieszak, 2025. "Following news on social media boosts knowledge, belief accuracy and trust," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 9(9), pages 1833-1842, September.
    2. Juan S. Morales & Anne E. Wilson, 2025. "Partisan Conflict on Social Media: Empirical Evidence and Policy Challenges," EconPol Forum, CESifo, vol. 26(04), pages 52-57, October.
    3. Berger, Lara Marie & Kerkhof, Anna & Mindl, Felix & Münster, Johannes, 2025. "Debunking “fake news” on social media: Immediate and short-term effects of fact-checking and media literacy interventions," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 245(C).
    4. Marcel Caesmann & Janis Goldzycher & Matteo Grigoletto & Lorenz Gschwent, 2024. "Censorship in Democracy," Papers 2406.03393, arXiv.org.
    5. Alexandre De Cornière & Miklos Sarvary, 2023. "Social media news: content bundling and news quality," Post-Print hal-04067655, HAL.
    6. Alexandre de Cornière & Miklos Sarvary, 2023. "Social Media and News: Content Bundling and News Quality," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(1), pages 162-178, January.
    7. Nathan Goldstein & David Lagziel & Ohad Raveh, 2025. "Political Rational Inattention: A New Measure With an Application to Political Polarization," Working Papers 2511, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Department of Economics.
    8. Stöhr, Annika & Rösch, Jürgen & Kuchinke, Björn A. & Budzinski, Oliver, 2025. "Twitter/X, Fake News und Demokratie: Ein ökonomischer Blick auf Media Bias und den Markt für Fehlinformationen im digitalen Zeitalter," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 203, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.
    9. Gonzalo Cisternas & Jorge Vásquez, 2022. "Misinformation in Social Media: The Role of Verification Incentives," Staff Reports 1028, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • L82 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Entertainment; Media
    • L86 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Information and Internet Services; Computer Software
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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