The Phase Model of Misinformation Interventions

TL;DR

This paper systematically investigates technical and non-technical misinformation interventions, highlighting accepted strategies like media literacy and education, and introduces the Phase Model to guide effective intervention combinations.

Contribution

It presents the first interdisciplinary study on misinformation interventions and introduces the Phase Model to help practitioners select and combine strategies effectively.

Findings

Media literacy and education are widely supported interventions.

Providing evidence-based tools is perceived as helpful and scalable.

Deleting misinformation is the most controversial intervention.

Abstract

Misinformation is a challenging problem. This paper provides the first systematic interdisciplinary investigation of technical and non-technical interventions against misinformation. It combines interviews and a survey to understand which interventions are accepted across academic disciplines and approved by misinformation experts. Four interventions are supported by more than two in three misinformation experts: promoting media literacy, education in schools and universities, finding information about claims, and finding sources for claims. The most controversial intervention is deleting misinformation. We discuss the potentials and risks of all interventions. Education-based interventions are perceived as the most helpful by misinformation experts. Interventions focused on providing evidence are also widely perceived as helpful. We discuss them as scalable and always available interventions that empower users to independently identify misinformation. We also introduce the Phase Model of Misinformation Interventions that helps practitioners make informed decisions about which interventions to focus on and how to best combine interventions.