USING TRANSACTION COST ECONOMICS SAFEGUARDING TO REDUCE THE DIFFUSION OF DISINFORMATION ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Authors

David Eccles, The University of MelbourneFollow
Sherah Kurnia, The University of MelbourneFollow
Nicholas Geard, The University of MelbourneFollow
Tilman Dingler, The University of MelbourneFollow

Abstract

Human users contribute to the spread of disinformation on Social Media. To reduce the spread, we apply Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) Safeguarding, which penalises the sharing of disinformation. Using the economic theory TCE positions Social Media platforms as free markets, in which actors are motivated to protect their assets and peer reputation. We conducted a study exploring TCE Safeguarding as a market correction mechanism to change the disinformation diffusion behaviour of users. Our findings show that users will be less likely to post a comment and more likely to correct their previous disinformation diffusion actions when TCE Safeguarding is applied. Focusing on Social Media as a market rather than its individual components may provide a mechanism to address the "fake news" phenomenon.

Recommended Citation

Eccles, David; Kurnia, Sherah; Geard, Nicholas; and Dingler, Tilman, "USING TRANSACTION COST ECONOMICS SAFEGUARDING TO REDUCE THE DIFFUSION OF DISINFORMATION ON SOCIAL MEDIA" (2023). ECIS 2023 Research-in-Progress Papers. 35.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2023_rip/35