Lies for the greater good? Russian perceptions of the (un)acceptability of disinformation
Research Article
Acknowledgments
The study was implemented in the framework of the Basic Research Program at the HSE University
How to Cite
Kazun A.D. (2026) Lies for the greater good? Russian perceptions of the (un)acceptability of disinformation. Zhurnal sotsiologii i sotsialnoy antropologii (The Journal of Sociology and Social Anthropology), 29(1): 100–117 (in Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.31119/jssa.2026.29.1.4 EDN: AREIQG
Abstract
The term “fake news” has entered not only academic discourse but also everyday language. Researchers highlight a wide range of negative consequences associated with disinformation. However, it remains unknown whether the public problematizes this situation and whether news audiences are willing to justify fake news in certain contexts. This study's empirical base comprises 119 semi-structured interviews conducted between March and May 2024, focusing on perceptions of fake news. While the interviews reveal a generally negative attitude towards the dissemination of fake news, respondents noted its relative acceptability under specific circumstances. These include situations where the misinformation is perceived as having no negative consequences for individuals or society (e.g., humor and satire), avoids adverse reactions to current events (e.g., panic), or yields positive outcomes (e.g., raising public awareness of significant issues, prompting constructive or socially desirable actions, serving as a tool of state policy, a "training ground" for critical thinking, or a means of combating false beliefs). However, such fake news must meet certain criteria: minimal factual distortion, extraordinary circumstances and infrequent dissemination, temporary nature with subsequent corrective information provided, and compliance with existing legislation. Reasoning regarding the (un)acceptability of fake news can be framed within ethical or pragmatic logics. In the former, respondents emphasize the impossibility of justifying disinformation through potential positive effects. In the latter, attempts are made to calculate the potential positive and negative consequences of fake news, with a willingness to endorse unethical measures linked to the perceived shortcomings of others — individuals susceptible to cognitive biases, false beliefs, and excessive emotionality.
Keywords:
fake news, disinformation, news consumption, media trust, media cynicism
References
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Kazun A.D. (2025b) “To Tarnish the Bright and Pure, to Whitewash the Dark and Dirty”: Russians’ Perceptions of the Potential Risks of Fake News. INTERakciya. INTERv'yu. INTERpretaciya [INTERaction. INTERview. INTERpretation], 3: 35–54 (in Russian).
Kazun A.D. (2024) Promising Areas for News Consumption Research in High-Choice Media Environment. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriya 10. Zhurnalistika [Bulletin of Moscow University. Series 10: Journalism], 2: 3–47. https://doi.org/10.30547/vestnik.journ.2.2024.347 (in Russian)
Nazarov M.M. (2018) Modern media landscape: diversity and fragmentation. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya[Sociological Studies], 8: 54–64. https://doi.org/10.31857/S013216250000762-1 (in Russian).
Nestik T.A., Mikheev E.A. (2022) Psychological factors of the effectiveness of refuting disinformation in social networks. Institut Psikhologii Rossiyskoy Akademii Nauk. Organizatsionnaya Psikhologiya i Psikhologiya Truda.[Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Organizational Psychology and Psychology of Labor], 2: 65–94. https://doi.org/10.38098/ipran.opwp_2022_23_2_003 (in Russian).
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Dobber T., Metoui N., Trilling D., Helberger N., de Vreese C. (2021) Do (Microtargeted) Deepfakes Have Real Effects on Political Attitudes? The International Journal of Press/Politics, 26(1): 69–91. https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161220944364
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Miró-Llinares F., Aguerri J.C. (2023) Misinformation about fake news: A systematic critical review of empirical studies on the phenomenon and its status as a ‘threat’. European Journal of Criminology, 20(1): 356–374. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370821994059
Perloff R.M., Shen L. (2023) The Third-Person Effect 40 Years After Davison Penned It: What We Know and Where We Should Traverse. Mass Communication and Society, 26(3): 384–413. https://doi.org/10.1080/15205436.2022.2134802
Schwarzenegger C. (2020) Personal epistemologies of the media: Selective criticality, pragmatic trust, and competence-confidence in navigating media repertoires in the digital age. New Media & Society, 22(2): 361–377. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444819856919
Southwell B.G., Machuca J.O., Cherry S.T., Burnside M., Barrett N.J. (2023) Health Misinformation Exposure and Health Disparities: Observations and Opportunities. Annual Review of Public Health, 44: 113–130. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-071321-031118
Stenmark M., Fuller S., Zackariasson U. (2018) Relativism and Post-Truth in Contemporary Society: Possibilities and Challenges. Cham: Springer.
Swire-Thompson B., Lazer D. (2020) Public Health and Online Misinformation: Challenges and Recommendations. Annual Review of Public Health, 41: 433–451. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-040119-094127
Thorson E. (2016) Belief Echoes: The Persistent Effects of Corrected Misinformation. Political Communication, 33(3): 460–480. https://doi.org/10.1080/10584609.2015.1102187
Tong C., Gill H., Li J., Valenzuela S., Rojas H. (2020) “Fake News Is Anything They Say!”—Conceptualization and Weaponization of Fake News among the American Public. Mass Communication and Society, 23(5): 755–778. https://doi.org/10.1080/15205436.2020.1789661
van der Meer T. G. L. A., Hameleers M., Ohme J. (2023) Can Fighting Misinformation Have a Negative Spillover Effect? How Warnings for the Threat of Misinformation Can Decrease General News Credibility. Journalism Studies, 24(6): 803–823. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2023.2187652
Yoo J., Kim D., Kim W.-G. (2022) Fake news on you, Not me: The Third-Person Effects of Fake News in South Korea. Communication Research Reports, 39(3): 115–125. https://doi.org/10.1080/08824096.2022.2054790
Kazun A.D. (2025a) “Folk Theories” of Fake News. Polis. Politicheskie issledovaniya [Polis. Political Studies], 6: 73–85. (in Russian).
Kazun A.D. (2025b) “To Tarnish the Bright and Pure, to Whitewash the Dark and Dirty”: Russians’ Perceptions of the Potential Risks of Fake News. INTERakciya. INTERv'yu. INTERpretaciya [INTERaction. INTERview. INTERpretation], 3: 35–54 (in Russian).
Kazun A.D. (2024) Promising Areas for News Consumption Research in High-Choice Media Environment. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriya 10. Zhurnalistika [Bulletin of Moscow University. Series 10: Journalism], 2: 3–47. https://doi.org/10.30547/vestnik.journ.2.2024.347 (in Russian)
Nazarov M.M. (2018) Modern media landscape: diversity and fragmentation. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya[Sociological Studies], 8: 54–64. https://doi.org/10.31857/S013216250000762-1 (in Russian).
Nestik T.A., Mikheev E.A. (2022) Psychological factors of the effectiveness of refuting disinformation in social networks. Institut Psikhologii Rossiyskoy Akademii Nauk. Organizatsionnaya Psikhologiya i Psikhologiya Truda.[Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Organizational Psychology and Psychology of Labor], 2: 65–94. https://doi.org/10.38098/ipran.opwp_2022_23_2_003 (in Russian).
Petrova D.V. (2024) News Consumption in Rural Area: (Dis)Trust and Verification Strategies. Monitoring obschestvennogo mneniya: ekonomicheskie i socialnye peremeny [Monitoring of Public Opinion: Economic and Social Changes], 4: 91–114. https://doi.org/10.14515/monitoring.2024.4.2572 (in Russian).
Sushpanova I.S. (2018) “Post-truth” in Social Reality: Risks and Threats. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies], 12: 94–104. https://doi.org/10.31857/S013216250003173–3 (in Russian).
Au C.H., Ho K.K.W., Chiu D.K.W. (2022) The Role of Online Misinformation and Fake News in Ideological Polarization: Barriers, Catalysts, and Implications. Information Systems Frontiers, 24(4): 1331–1354. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-021-10133-9
Berry R.A., Rosenbaum J.E., Corey A. M. (2023) Weaponising #Fakenews on Twitter: Generating Flak or Critiquing the Status Quo in the Trump Era? Javnost — The Public. https://doi.org/10.1080/13183222.2023.2267265
Cantarella M., Fraccaroli N., Volpe R. (2023) Does fake news affect voting behaviour? Research Policy, 52: 104628. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2022.104628
Carlson M. (2020) Fake news as an informational moral panic: The symbolic deviancy of social media during the 2016 US presidential election. Information, Communication & Society, 23(3): 374–388. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2018.1505934
Dobber T., Metoui N., Trilling D., Helberger N., de Vreese C. (2021) Do (Microtargeted) Deepfakes Have Real Effects on Political Attitudes? The International Journal of Press/Politics, 26(1): 69–91. https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161220944364
Egelhofer J.L., Lecheler S. (2019) Fake news as a two-dimensional phenomenon: A framework and research agenda. Annals of the International Communication Association, 43(2): 97–116. https://doi.org/10.1080/23808985.2019.1602782
Farkas J., Schou J. (2018) Fake News as a Floating Signifier: Hegemony, Antagonism and the Politics of Falsehood. Javnost — The Public, 25: 298–314. https://doi.org/10.1080/13183222.2018.1463047
Jones-Jang S.M., Kim D.H., Kenski K. (2021) Perceptions of mis- or disinformation exposure predict political cynicism: Evidence from a two-wave survey during the 2018 US midterm elections. New Media & Society, 23(10): 3105–3125. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820943878
Laclau E. (2005) On Populist Reason. London: Verso.
Lazer D. M. J., Baum M. A., et al. (2018) The science of fake news. Science, 359(6380): 1094–1096. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aao2998
Mazzaro K. (2023) Anti-Media Discourse and Violence Against Journalists: Evidence from Chávez’s Venezuela. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 28(3): 469–492. https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612211047198
Miró-Llinares F., Aguerri J.C. (2023) Misinformation about fake news: A systematic critical review of empirical studies on the phenomenon and its status as a ‘threat’. European Journal of Criminology, 20(1): 356–374. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370821994059
Perloff R.M., Shen L. (2023) The Third-Person Effect 40 Years After Davison Penned It: What We Know and Where We Should Traverse. Mass Communication and Society, 26(3): 384–413. https://doi.org/10.1080/15205436.2022.2134802
Schwarzenegger C. (2020) Personal epistemologies of the media: Selective criticality, pragmatic trust, and competence-confidence in navigating media repertoires in the digital age. New Media & Society, 22(2): 361–377. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444819856919
Southwell B.G., Machuca J.O., Cherry S.T., Burnside M., Barrett N.J. (2023) Health Misinformation Exposure and Health Disparities: Observations and Opportunities. Annual Review of Public Health, 44: 113–130. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-071321-031118
Stenmark M., Fuller S., Zackariasson U. (2018) Relativism and Post-Truth in Contemporary Society: Possibilities and Challenges. Cham: Springer.
Swire-Thompson B., Lazer D. (2020) Public Health and Online Misinformation: Challenges and Recommendations. Annual Review of Public Health, 41: 433–451. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-040119-094127
Thorson E. (2016) Belief Echoes: The Persistent Effects of Corrected Misinformation. Political Communication, 33(3): 460–480. https://doi.org/10.1080/10584609.2015.1102187
Tong C., Gill H., Li J., Valenzuela S., Rojas H. (2020) “Fake News Is Anything They Say!”—Conceptualization and Weaponization of Fake News among the American Public. Mass Communication and Society, 23(5): 755–778. https://doi.org/10.1080/15205436.2020.1789661
van der Meer T. G. L. A., Hameleers M., Ohme J. (2023) Can Fighting Misinformation Have a Negative Spillover Effect? How Warnings for the Threat of Misinformation Can Decrease General News Credibility. Journalism Studies, 24(6): 803–823. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2023.2187652
Yoo J., Kim D., Kim W.-G. (2022) Fake news on you, Not me: The Third-Person Effects of Fake News in South Korea. Communication Research Reports, 39(3): 115–125. https://doi.org/10.1080/08824096.2022.2054790
Article
Received: 09.04.2025
Accepted: 27.03.2026
Citation Formats
Other cite formats:
ACM
[1]
Kazun, A.D. 2026. Lies for the greater good? Russian perceptions of the (un)acceptability of disinformation. Zhurnal sotsiologii i sotsialnoy antropologii (The Journal of Sociology and Social Anthropology). 29, 1 (Mar. 2026), 100–117. DOI:https://doi.org/10.31119/jssa.2026.29.1.4.
Section
Sociology of Media
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