The Short-Term Impact of an On-Site Literacy Intervention on Discerning Deepfake Videos Based on Visual Features

This study examines how well individuals in Switzerland can distinguish high-quality deepfakes from real videos and whether a brief literacy intervention improves detection. In an online experiment with 1,361 participants, we tested the deepfake detection skills and how prior exposure and experience with deepfakes and various forms of media literacy relate to performance. Participants struggled to identify deepfakes when attending to visual features of 10-s clips and the literacy intervention showed no direct effect. However, prior deepfake experience and media literacy moderated the intervention’s impact. Findings highlight the need for comprehensive digital literacy strategies to address deepfake-related challenges.