Abstract

Research has struggled to answer a critical question: why would people share fake news if they have no intention to deceive, and they run a risk of social censure for doing so? Working on the basis that sharers do not know whether the news is fake, we propose the term “dubious news” to help answer that question. The term describes news which exists in two states simultaneously, both true and false until it has been established which it is. People who would be reluctant to knowingly share fake news might nonetheless share dubious news. Focus groups run in Singapore during the early stages of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic – when uncertainty ran high – explored why people share dubious news, its value in establishing truth, and its impact on group cohesion. We identify a difference between the motivation of the sharer and how that motivation is perceived by a recipient, which further illustrates the distinction between dubious and fake news. We conclude that, despite the potential for discord in the group and censure for the individual, dubious news may still perform social functions like that of rumour: group cohesion; personal status; and a sense of control in situations of uncertainty.

摘要

研究一直在努力回答一个关键问题：如果人们无意欺骗，为什么会分享假新闻，而且他们这样做会面临社会谴责的风险？在共享者不知道的基础上工作如果新闻是假的，我们提出“可疑新闻”一词来帮助回答这个问题。该术语描述了同时以两种状态存在的新闻，无论是真还是假，直到确定它是什么为止。不愿故意分享假新闻的人可能仍然会分享可疑消息。焦点小组在 2020 年 Covid-19 大流行的早期阶段（当时不确定性很高）在新加坡举行，探讨了人们分享可疑消息的原因、其在确立真相方面的价值，以及它对群体凝聚力的影响。我们确定了分享者的动机与接收者如何看待这种动机之间的差异，这进一步说明了可疑新闻和假新闻之间的区别。我们得出的结论是，尽管群体中存在不和谐的可能性并受到个人的谴责，可疑新闻可能仍会像谣言一样发挥社会功能：群体凝聚力；个人身份；以及在不确定情况下的控制感。