Fake news didn't play a big role in NZ's 2023 election - but there was a rise in 'small lies'

Mona Krewel reports the New Zealand Social Media Study's fact-checking of more than 4,000 Facebook posts by parties and party leaders across the five weeks before election day. Outright fake news averaged 2.6% of posts per week, barely above the 2.5% recorded in 2020, peaking at 3.8% in the final campaign week. Half-truths rose more sharply, from a 2.5% weekly average in 2020 to 4.8% in 2023; of the misleading posts, 37% were emotionally targeted, 26% jumped to conclusions, 23% oversimplified and 21% cherry-picked information.