Countering State-Controlled Media Propaganda Through Labeling: Evidence from Facebook

In an era dominated by social media, users are regularly exposed to propaganda, including efforts by authoritarian countries to undermine trust in government and health officials during elections and throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Facebook and Twitter have taken steps to address this issue by adding labels indicating state-controlled media from certain countries like Russia, China, and Iran. This article investigates the effectiveness of state-controlled media labels in countering propaganda on social media, with a focus on Facebook. The researchers conduct two controlled online experiments and analyze field data surrounding Facebook’s policy change in June 2020. The results indicate that state-controlled media labels can be effective in reducing engagement. However, the efficacy of the labels depends on users actively noticing them and the sentiment toward the country indicated in the label. Labels for countries with negative public sentiment showed a significant decrease in engagement, while those for positively perceived countries did not have the same impact. The study suggests that social media platforms should inform users about labeling policies and display labels prominently. Although propaganda will likely remain on social media, efforts to reduce its spread can be effective with proper implementation and awareness.