On media and disinformation: Examining viewer judgment of political video authenticity

Disinformation is false information created to mis-lead public belief. In politics, disinformation is often used to persuade public opinion and achieve political victory. False information can be spread through word of mouth, news articles, images, and videos. The use of manipulated media is becoming a source of concern for the general public. Researchers are exploring the impact of manipulated media on public opinion. While prior research has investigated the effects of various news articles and images, to our knowledge, researchers have yet to explore the impact of manipulated videos of political figures on public opinion. We conducted a between-subjects user study with 420 participants. First, participants viewed edited or unedited videos related to a political candidate and then answered some survey questions regarding their opinion on the political figures. Our findings suggest that video headlines and news sources have influenced user interpretations and beliefs. However, many participants were skeptical about the authenticity of the videos. Overall, we see that a viewer’s political leanings do affect their judgment of a video’s authenticity but the Figure involved and the context of the video matter as well.