Digital Fact-Checking in the Age of AI:
Trust, Privacy, and the Everyday Practices
of Truthfulness Verification
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Submission date: 2025-12-03
Acceptance date: 2026-01-12
Publication date: 2026-03-16
Polish Sociological Review 2026;233(1):67-90
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
This article examines how confidence in everyday digital practices, such as searching for product
information, managing social media privacy settings, and restricting browser cookies, shapes individuals’
confidence in their ability to fact-check online content. The analysis of a recent CROss-National Online Survey
(CRONOS) data from 11 European countries reveals that confidence in these digital skills is a stronger predictor of
fact-checking confidence than socio-demographic and structural characteristics, participation in digital training,
or frequency of internet use. The findings suggest that individuals approach online truthfulness not primarily as
epistemic agents or citizens, but as consumers searching for reliable offers. The analysis also provides evidence that
trust in scientists enhances fact-checking confidence, while generalized interpersonal trust reduces it, highlighting
the need to distinguish between offline and online social norms. Based on these findings, policy recommendations
to strengthen the digital fact-checking skills of European citizens are formulated.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The article was created as a developed and refined version of the authors’ submission for In fra4NextGen Hackathon—Analyzing CRONOS Data and Communicating Key Insights to Policy Makers. The submission won in the Make it Digital category and was recognized with a special prize for the relevance of its topic.