Fake video detection among secondary school students: The impact of sociocultural, media literacy and media use factors

Abstract

The harmful political, economic and health effects of fake news on social media are well known. The present study examines the impact of two socio-cultural variables (political orientation and parents' educational attainment), one media literacy variable and two media use variables (news control, platform usage frequency and media addiction) on fake videos detection. The ability to detect fake videos among Hungarian secondary school students (N = 507) was assessed using a 16-item video test. The results of the online survey are partly consistent and partly contradictory to the literature. There is no gender difference in the ability to detect fake videos in the age group studied, and media literacy and media use do not influence the ability to detect fake videos. However, a more conservative worldview and higher parental education are associated with better detection of fake videos. The paper concludes with recommendations.