Socio-demographic and online behavioural drivers of misinformation engagement in Hungary: evidence from linked survey and social media data

This study examines how socio-demographic and online behavioural characteristics are associated with misinformation engagement by combining survey data with donated Facebook trace data from a representative sample of the Hungarian Internet user population. Hungary provides a particularly interesting case for this research given its democratic backsliding and changing media landscape, which make understanding individual-level engagement with misinformation especially salient. The results show that from the socio-demographic factors only age was consistently associated with misinformation engagement, but membership in specific interest clusters on Facebook strongly shapes misinformation engagement, suggesting that online communities serve as powerful filters of information exposure: some ecosystems amplify engagement with misinformation, while others are associated with lower levels of such engagement.

The study also illustrates that structural socio-demographic factors should be studied together with online behaviour to provide a more complete understanding of the drivers of misinformation engagement. The authors would like to thank Zoltán Kmetty for coordinating the data collection. Funding (please add section): This publication is the result of research conducted at Central European University, Private University.

It was made possible by the CEU Open Access Fund. J.K. acknowledges funding from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Lendület Program: LP2022-10/2022. This publication is the result of research conducted at Central European University, Private University.

Department of Network and Data Science, Central European University, Vienna, Austria Institute of World Economics, ELTE Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Budapest, Hungary MTA–TK Lendület “Momentum” Digital Social Science Research Group for Social Stratification, ELTE Centre for Social Sciences, Budapest, Hungary Department of Social Research Methodology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary The authors declare no competing interests. We confirm that all research was performed in accordance with the Ethical Research Policy of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences as well as with the EU Code of Ethics for Socio-Economic Research and The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity by the ALLEA - All European Academies. These documents all include regulations and guidelines applicable when human participants are involved.

The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the ELTE Centre for Social Science (Budapest, Hungary) on December 16, 2022. Approval ID: 1-FOIG/130-37/2022. The research was conducted online between February and June 2023.

Before participating in the research, potential participants received detailed information about the objectives of the research, data management, and the need for consent in both the research invitation and on the page used to launch the research. Only those who accepted the consent form participated in the research. The research information sheet contained a link that details what data we request from users, illustrated with examples.