Platform Responses to Misinformation: A Meta-Analysis of Data

IPIE's 2023 meta-analysis of data on platform responses to misinformation is the most systematic available synthesis of what platforms have actually done to address misinformation — and what the evidence shows about whether those responses work. The report covers the full range of platform interventions: content removal, labelling and fact-check tags, reduced amplification, account suspension, and interstitial warnings. The meta-analytic approach allows comparison across interventions and contexts in a way that individual platform transparency reports or single-study findings cannot support.

The policy significance of this report is considerable. Platform self-regulatory claims about the effectiveness of their misinformation responses have largely been taken on faith in the absence of rigorous independent assessment. The IPIE meta-analysis provides the first systematic evidence-based evaluation of what those responses achieve — and where the evidence base is insufficient to draw conclusions. For regulators developing DSA compliance expectations, for civil society organisations assessing platform accountability, and for researchers studying platform governance, this is the essential empirical reference on the effectiveness of platform misinformation responses.