Fake News, Fact Checking, and Partisanship: The Resilience of Rumors in the 2018 Brazilian Elections

Studies about fake news in developed democracies suggest that fact checking reduces misinformation. They also identify partisan-motivated reasoning as the driving force behind beliefs in false information and the resistance to corrections. But how effective are corrections in developing democracies? Does the dominant explanation for misinformation hold in settings with different partisan configurations? Drawing on a survey experiment during the 2018 elections in Brazil, we find that fact-checking corrections in Brazil are ineffective at reducing misinformation. They fail even when they are most likely to work: among nonpartisans and when they confirm individuals’ political predispositions. Although partisan-motivated reasoning predicts beliefs in false information, it is not the main driving force behind the (in)effectiveness of corrections. This study calls attention to the challenges of curbing political misinformation in developing democracies and urges future research to foster a better understanding of the dynamics of fake news across different contexts.