Page - 188 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19

VULNERABLE188 Is It Worth It? Let’s start with two of most frequently raised arguments against vigor- ously countering the spread of misinformation. One is that correcting misinformation online is simply ineffective. Dumping more science on people has little impact, it is often said, because attempting to correct a misperception can cause individuals to become more entrenched in their beliefs. This phenomenon—usually called the “backfire effect”— has received a lot of attention and is often noted whenever there is a call for more individuals to get actively involved in the countering of misinformation. Debunking doesn’t work, it is argued.22 But how strong is the backfire phenomenon? There are sev- eral well-known studies associated with the birth of this concern. Probably the most influential is a study published in 2010 where the researchers explored the impact of corrected news articles that contained a misleading claim by a politician. It was found that “cor- rections frequently fail to reduce misperceptions among the targeted ideological group” and there were “several instances of a ‘backfire effect’ in which corrections actually increase misperceptions among the group in question.”23 As a result of this and several other stud- ies, there now seems to be a widely accepted belief that the backfire effect is a dominant phenomenon that makes debunking a near futile exercise.24 22. See, for example, Christian Bokhove, “Beware: Debunking Research Myths Can Backfire on You” (19 July 2019), online: Tes <https://www.tes.com/magazine/ article/beware-debunking-research-myths-can-backfire-you>. 23. Brendan Nyhan & Jason Reifler, “When Corrections Fail: The Persistence of Political Misperceptions” (2010) 32 Political Behaviour 303, DOI: <10.1007/ s11109-010-9112-2>. 24. See, for example, Julie Beck, “This Article Won’t Change Your Mind”, The Atlantic (11 December 2019), online: <https://www.theatlantic.com/science/ archive/2017/03/this-article-wont-change-your-mind/519093/>; “The Backfire Effect: Why Facts Don’t Win Arguments” (15 October 2013), online: Big  Think <https://bigthink.com/think-tank/the-backfire-effect-why-facts-dont-win-argu- ments>. See also Erin Brodwin, “Facebook’s Covid-19 Misinformation Campaign Is Based on Research. The Authors Worry Facebook Missed the Message” (1 May 2020), online: StatNews <https://www.statnews.com/2020/05/01/face- books-covid-19-misinformation-campaign-is-based-on-research-the-authors- worry-facebook-missed-the-message/>, where it is noted that Facebook’s coronavirus misinformation strategy is “designed to avoid what’s known as the backfire effect.” Why the “backfire effect” gained so much traction is an interest- ing question on its own, one which is beyond the scope of this piece. But I think that the fact it feels intuitively correct is a big part of its appeal. It is hard to change opinions.