ABSTRACT
False information presented as factual is an effective weapon in the information age and has become widely used to influence people’s attitudes and behavior on social media.
For instance, the Russian Internet Research Agency’s information warfare campaign supported Donald Trump’s successful candidacy in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, with some arguing that their efforts were effective in facilitating Trump’s Electoral College victory. This chapter examines the complex relationship between people’s social media use and their susceptibility to fake news and information warfare campaigns intended to sow chaos and disinformation. To accomplish this, the social psychological literature on social influence and persuasion is reviewed, focusing on the role that commitment and consistency, scarcity, liking, perceived social norms, and the viral spread of social media content play on people’s willingness to believe disinformation. This chapter concludes with a discussion of potential strategies that individuals, policy makers, and technology companies could adopt to aid in protecting unsuspecting people from these types of influence operations.
