“Fake News” Is What Happens to Others: Russians’ Perceptions of Groups Vulnerable to Disinformation

Abstract

This article examines how Russians conceptualize the groups most vulnerable to fake news. Drawing on 119 semi-structured interviews conducted in spring 2024, I find clear evidence of the third-person effect: participants believe that disinformation primarily threatens “others” who differ from them on salient dimensions. Age is the most common basis for dividing society into “us” (relatively protected) and “them” (more vulnerable). Age is invoked as a biological (mental state, emotional susceptibility), social (lifestyle), or generational (socialization contexts) variable. Younger respondents typically see older people as more at risk — either lacking the skills or the motivation to verify information — whereas older respondents view youth as more susceptible due to insufficient maturity. Media consumption patterns form a second key fault line. Television audiences assume that internet users are more likely to fall for fakes, while internet users believe the opposite. Highly news-engaged individuals regard themselves as more competent at identifying disinformation and, therefore better protected. Less engaged individuals, in turn, claim they encounter fake news less often and, since perfect detection is impossible, consider themselves less vulnerable than heavy news consumers. Respondents who are more educated, more professionally successful, or living in large cities also perceive themselves as better protected than those who differ on these dimensions. Methodologically, I show that the foundations of the third-person effect are heterogeneous, making generic survey items about “self” versus “others” difficult to interpret. People load very different meanings into “others” (the youth, the elderly, small-town residents, etc.), effectively answering different questions.

Acknowledgments. The study was implemented in the framework of the Basic Research Program at HSE University.