Fact-checking Politicians” with Andrea Mattozzi and Samuel Nocito

Abstract:

We study whether and how Italian MPs respond to a rigorous fact-checking of their statements. Our research design relies on a novel randomized field experiment in collaboration with the leading Italian fact-checking company. Our results show that politicians are responsive to fact-checking. In particular, we observe a reduction in the probability of politicians making a false statement after being treated. Furthermore, we observe a reduction in the number of verifiable (fact-checkable) statements by treated politicians, suggesting that fact-checking may also increase the ambiguity of politicians’ statements.