Fact-checking during an election and its effects on partisanship

Abstract

While fact-checking has gained popularity across the globe since the 2016 U.S. presidential election, there have been ongoing discussions on its methodologies as well as its effects on voters. Scholars have pointed out that, especially during elections, fact-checks that concentrate on any one side or politician as well as exploitation of fact-checks by partisan users could deepen the polarization. In this study, we draw on case studies from the 2018 gubernatorial election in Japan's Okinawa Prefecture to examine how fact-checking affects partisan discourses. Our analysis of twitter data shows that some of the articles provoked stronger partisan reactions due to lack of transparency of sources and the process.