Replication Data for: A War of (Mis)Information: The Political Effects of Rumors and Rumor Rebuttals in an Authoritarian Country

Despite the prevalence of anti-government rumors in authoritarian countries, little is currently known about their effects on citizens' attitudes toward the government, and whether the authorities can effectively combat rumors. With an experimental procedure embedded in two surveys about Chinese internet users' information exposure, this study finds that rumors decrease citizens' trust in the government and support of the regime. Moreover, individuals from diverse socioeconomic and political backgrounds are similarly susceptible to thinly evidenced rumors. Rebuttals generally reduce people's belief in the specific content of rumors, but often do not recover political trust, unless the government brings forth solid and vivid evidence to back its refutation or win the endorsement of public figures broadly perceived to be independent. But because such high-quality and strong rebuttals are hard to come by, rumors will erode political support in an authoritarian state. These findings have rich implications for studies of rumors and misinformation in general and authoritarian information politics in particular.尽管威权国家内反政府谣言屡见不鲜，但目前学界对其如何影响民众对政府的态度，以及当局能否有效遏制此类谣言仍知之甚少。本研究将实验设计嵌入两项针对中国网民信息接触行为的调查之中，结果显示，此类谣言会削弱民众对政府的信任与对政权的支持。此外，无论社会经济与政治背景存在何种差异，民众均易受到证据薄弱的谣言的影响。辟谣举措通常可降低民众对谣言具体内容的信任，但往往无法恢复其政治信任，除非政府能够拿出扎实且生动的证据支撑其驳斥言论，或是获得被广泛认定为独立的公众人物的背书。但由于此类高质量、强有力的辟谣手段难得一见，谣言终将侵蚀威权国家的政治支持基础。本研究结论对谣言与虚假信息的整体研究，尤其是威权国家信息政治领域的研究均具有丰富的启示价值。