The spread of misinformation and fake news has been one of the more challenging features of the past few years, especially as the Covid pandemic has made the consequences of this spread so deadly.  While it might be reasonable to assume that those users with verified status may be relied upon to be more responsible with what they post, research from Temple University’s Fox School of Business suggests they may be the guiltiest of all.

“It’s a huge problem, it’s one of the biggest problems that we’re dealing with right now,” the researchers say. “Fake news is becoming a ‘life-and-death’ matter and eroding trust and respect with each other, which is a backbone of any civilized society.”

Unreliable sources

Whereas we might intuitively think that verified status is a badge of respectability bestowed upon the reliable and trustworthy, the study suggests that verified people can often share more fake news after they get the badge than before becoming verified.

The research found that those who voluntarily ask to be verified are often among the worst culprits for spreading misinformation.  The authors believe their findings should prompt platforms to be more diligent about who gets such status, and indeed who can retain such status given their undoubted influence over the wider community.

“When you’re verified, your posts carry more weight, and it’s more damaging when you share fake news,” the authors conclude. “While we did not investigate this specifically, it seems like some individuals are using the verification process to game the system.  [Social media platforms] have to enforce it more strongly. They have to be open to the possibility that a user has gamed the system and they have to prevent workarounds. We think that is one of the strongest takeaways from this research.”