Using a game to induce resilience against fake news

This workshop, presented by Dr Catherine Wong, highlights the key findings from a pilot study titled “Inoculation against fake news? An experiment using a fake news game on COVID-19 vaccines”.

The study, conducted in Singapore, set out to experiment with the use of an online role-playing game to induce resilience against fake news. The experimental design was based on the concept of “pre-bunking” (as opposed to “debunking”) which involved the use of the game as an intervention to pre-emptively refute fake news.

Funded by a seed grant from the NUS-Centre for Trusted Internet and Communities (CTIC), the game was designed to getting individuals to step into the shoes of fake news producers and play with the deception techniques they use. Following this intervention, we assessed whether players got better at identifying subsequent exposures to online fake news.

Focused group discussions were also held after the game to explore participants’ underlying risk perceptions with regards to the COVID-19 vaccines and fake news.