US Soldiers' Individual and Unit-level Factors Associated with Perceptions of Disinformation in the Military Context

Abstract

Introduction: Although the US Government considers threats of misinformation, disinformation, and mal-information to rise to the level of terrorism, little is known about service members' experiences with disinformation in the military context. We examined soldiers' perceptions of disinformation impact on the Army and their units. We also investigated associations between disinformation perceptions and soldiers' sociodemographic characteristics, reported use of fact-checking, and perceptions of unit cohesion and readiness.

Methods: Active-duty soldiers (N = 19,465) across two large installations in the Southwest US completed an anonymous online survey.

Results: Sixty-six percent of soldiers agreed that disinformation has a negative impact on the Army. Thirty-three percent of soldiers perceived disinformation as a problem in their unit. Females were more likely to agree that disinformation has a negative impact on the Army and is a problem in their unit. Higher military rank was associated with lower odds of agreeing that disinformation is a problem in units. Most soldiers were confident about their ability to recognize disinformation (62%) and reported using fact-checking resources (53%), and these factors were most often endorsed by soldiers who agreed that disinformation is a problem for the Army and their unit. Soldiers' perceptions of unit cohesion and readiness were negatively associated with the perception that disinformation is a problem in their unit.

Conclusion: While the majority of soldiers viewed disinformation as a problem across the Army, fewer perceived it as problematic within their units. Higher levels of reported fact-checking were most evident among those who perceived disinformation as a problem, suggesting that enhancing awareness of the problem of disinformation alone could help mitigate its deleterious impact. Perceptions of disinformation problems within units were associated with soldiers' perceptions of lower unit cohesion and readiness, highlighting misinformation, disinformation, and mal-information's impact on force readiness. Limitations and future directions are discussed.