The Third-Person Effect of the IP Location Feature on Chinese Social Media

The Third-Person Effect of the IP Location Feature on Chinese Social Media

To curb the spread of misinformation and online harassment, the Chinese government implemented a new regulation in 2022 requiring social media platforms to display users' IP location information. We applied the third-person effect theory to examine the impact of the IP location feature on users' privacy concerns, behavioral change intentions, and their attitudes toward location disclosure and media literacy intervention policies. Through our survey of 499 Chinese social media users, we discovered that most perceive the feature's influence on others to be greater than on themselves. Moreover, we found that participants generally believed that location disclosure would have a more substantial impact on others' social media behavior than on their own, further reinforcing the widespread presence of the third-person effect in digital environments. However, our analysis revealed no significant positive correlation between the third-person effect and increased support for policy enforcement or media literacy education. We validated the applicability of the third-person effect theory in the context of Chinese social media, offering fresh insights into the psychosocial impact of such regulations by highlighting users' diverse reactions to privacy policies. Our findings provide critical empirical support for policymakers and social media platforms in formulating privacy protection measures, underscoring the importance of considering users' psychological expectations and cognitive biases in the policymaking process.