Fighting Misinformation on Social Media: An Empirical Investigation of the Impact of Prominence Reduction Policies

Abstract

Misinformation has dire implications for both public welfare and the operational aims of user-generated content (UGC) platforms. As a result, platforms have adopted various content moderation policies aimed at decreasing the volume and impact of misinformation. However, implementing new platform policies runs the risk of decreasing user contribution and alienating core users, and there are mixed results regarding their efficacy. We empirically assess a prominence reduction policy applied to a problematic group high in misinformation. The goal of this policy is to reduce the visibility of misinformation on the platform (rather than deleting it or banning users). The results show that prominence reduction diminishes misinformation contribution in the focal group. However, it results in a spillover of misinformation to other topically related spaces. This spillover is driven primarily by a small set of problematic users. The spillover is short-lived. In examining the underlying mechanism, we find that the spillover to the external groups diminishes over time as misinformation does not lead to contagion. Finally, prominence reduction has no impact on non-misinformation contribution on the platform. This paper contributes to the operations management literature on misinformation, information dynamics, and platform policies. The findings from this study have strong implications for platform operations and produce specific recommendations to managers regarding effective ways to reduce the spread of misinformation.

Keywords: Online misinformation, content moderation policies, user online contribution, UGC platforms