From Lack of Concerns to Complicity: How Misinformation Concerns Influences Fake News Sharing on WhatsApp via the Partisan Legitimation of Fake News Articles uri icon

publication date

  • July 2025

start page

  • 1

end page

  • 10

issue

  • 4

volume

  • 106

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0038-4941

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1540-6237

abstract

  • Objectives: Misinformation has emerged as an important threat to democracies, fostering severe concerns among citizens worldwide. However, even in this context, research emphasizes that citizens play a crucial role in the dissemination of falsehoods on social media. While previous studies argued that most users unintentionally share fake news when misjudging its accuracy, recent evidence points to partisan identity as a stronger predictor of this behavior. This study puts the literature on misinformation concerns and fake news sharing into dialogue to better understand the associations in time of this behavior. We focus on WhatsApp, a prominent platform for the circulation of falsehoods which has remained relatively understudied. Methods: This study draws on a two-wave panel survey fielded in Spain (N = 570) between May 2022 and July 2022. Results: We conceptualize the legitimation of partisan use of fake news the belief that using falsehoods to criticize opposing ideologies is legitimate¿and show that it mediates the relationship between misinformation concerns and fake news sharing on WhatsApp. We also show that social media news use and age predict, positively and negatively respectively, both legitimation of partisan use of fake news and fake news sharing. The direct effect of misinformation concerns on fake news sharing is non-statistically significant. Conclusion: Overall, the study illustrates how, in the current polarized environment, fake news may be weaponized to serve partisan interests.

subjects

  • Computer Science
  • Information Science

keywords

  • fake news sharing; legitimation of partisan use of fake news; misinformation; whatsapp