Designing a conceptual framework for misinformation on social media: a qualitative study on COVID-19

Have we found a solution for health misinformation? A ten-year systematic review of health misinformation literature 2013-2022

BACKGROUND

Health misinformation (HM) has emerged as a prominent social issue in recent years, driven by declining public trust, popularisation of digital media platforms and escalating public health crisis. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, HM has raised critical concerns due to its significant impacts on both individuals and society as a whole. A comprehensive understanding of HM and HM-related studies would be instrumental in identifying possible solutions to address HM and the associated challenges.

METHODS

Following the PRISMA procedure, 11,739 papers published from January 2013 to December 2022 were retrieved from five electronic databases, and 813 papers matching the inclusion criteria were retained for further analysis. This article critically reviewed HM-related studies, detailing the factors facilitating HM creation and dissemination, negative impacts of HM, solutions to HM, and research methods employed in those studies.

RESULTS

A growing number of studies have focused on HM since 2013. Results of this study highlight that trust plays a significant while latent role in the circuits of HM, facilitating the creation and dissemination of HM, exacerbating the negative impacts of HM and amplifying the difficulty in addressing HM.

CONCLUSION

For health authorities and governmental institutions, it is essential to systematically build public trust in order to reduce the probability of individuals acceptation of HM and to improve the effectiveness of misinformation correction. Future studies should pay more attention to the role of trust in how to address HM.

Misinformation about COVID-19 among middle-aged and older migrants residing in Brazil and Portugal

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of COVID-19 misinformation among migrants aged 50 or older residing in Brazil and Portugal.

METHOD

This was a cross-sectional analytical study conducted among migrants from Portuguese-speaking countries living in Brazil and Portugal, who were 50 years of age or older. The prevalence ratios (PR) were estimated using the Poisson regression model.

RESULTS

Out of the 304 participants included in the study, 188 (61.8%) agreed with at least one piece of misinformation. Factors such as having a religious affiliation (aPR: 1.24), higher educational attainment (aPR: 1.17), knowing someone who died from COVID-19 (aPR: 1.78), and having no intention to get vaccinated (aPR: 1.36) were associated with a higher likelihood of agreeing with COVID-19 misinformation.

CONCLUSION

The findings suggest that access to misinformation was influenced by social, economic, and religious factors among elderly migrants with low digital literacy, thus contributing to the dissemination of false content within this population.

Agreement with COVID-19 disinformation among Portuguese-speaking older adults: an international study

OBJECTIVES

to assess agreement with COVID-19 disinformation among Portuguese-speaking individuals aged 50 years or older.

METHODS

a descriptive and analytical study involving 1,214 older adults born in Portuguese-speaking countries. Data collection occurred through online information mining to recognize COVID-19 and disinformation content, and the application of a structured questionnaire.

RESULTS

agreement with disinformation content was 65.2%. Residing outside Brazil is a protective factor for agreement with disinformation content, and those who believe in the truthfulness of the information sources they receive were 31% more likely to agree with disinformation content.

CONCLUSIONS

there is a high prevalence of disinformation among the older population in two Portuguese-speaking countries, which should raise the attention of healthcare professionals and guide coping strategies.

#Coronavirus on TikTok: user engagement with misinformation as a potential threat to public health behavior

Coronavirus disease (COVID)-related misinformation is prevalent online, including on social media. The purpose of this study was to explore factors associated with user engagement with COVID-related misinformation on the social media platform, TikTok. A sample of TikTok videos associated with the hashtag #coronavirus was downloaded on September 20, 2020. Misinformation was evaluated on a scale (low, medium, and high) using a codebook developed by experts in infectious diseases. Multivariable modeling was used to evaluate factors associated with number of views and presence of user comments indicating intention to change behavior. One hundred and sixty-six TikTok videos were identified and reviewed. Moderate misinformation was present in 36 (22%) videos viewed a median of 6.8 million times (interquartile range [IQR] 3.6-16 million), and high-level misinformation was present in 11 (7%) videos viewed a median of 9.4 million times (IQR 5.1-18 million). After controlling for characteristics and content, videos containing moderate misinformation were less likely to generate a user response indicating intended behavior change. By contrast, videos containing high-level misinformation were less likely to be viewed but demonstrated a nonsignificant trend towards higher engagement among viewers. COVID-related misinformation is less frequently viewed on TikTok but more likely to engage viewers. Public health authorities can combat misinformation on social media by posting informative content of their own.

COVID-19-Related Rumor Content, Transmission, and Clarification Strategies in China: Descriptive Study

Background

Given the permeation of social media throughout society, rumors spread faster than ever before, which significantly complicates government responses to public health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective

We aimed to examine the characteristics and propagation of rumors during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in China and evaluated the effectiveness of health authorities’ release of correction announcements.

Methods

We retrieved rumors widely circulating on social media in China during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and assessed the effectiveness of official government clarifications and popular science articles refuting those rumors.

Results

We show that the number of rumors related to the COVID-19 pandemic fluctuated widely in China between December 1, 2019 and April 15, 2020. Rumors mainly occurred in 3 provinces: Hubei, Zhejiang, and Guangxi. Personal social media accounts constituted the major source of media reports of the 4 most widely distributed rumors (the novel coronavirus can be prevented with “Shuanghuanglian”: 7648/10,664, 71.7%; the novel coronavirus is the SARS coronavirus: 14,696/15,902, 92.4%; medical supplies intended for assisting Hubei were detained by the local government: 3911/3943, 99.2%; asymptomatically infected persons were regarded as diagnosed COVID-19 patients with symptoms in official counts: 322/323, 99.7%). The number of rumors circulating was positively associated with the severity of the COVID-19 epidemic (ρ=0.88, 95% CI 0.81-0.93). The release of correction articles was associated with a substantial decrease in the proportion of rumor reports compared to accurate reports. The proportions of negative sentiments appearing among comments by citizens in response to media articles disseminating rumors and disseminating correct information differ insignificantly (both correct reports: χ₁²=0.315, P=.58; both rumors: χ₁²=0.025, P=.88; first rumor and last correct report: χ₁²=1.287, P=.26; first correct report and last rumor: χ₁²=0.033, P=.86).

Conclusions

Our results highlight the importance and urgency of monitoring and correcting false or misleading reports on websites and personal social media accounts. The circulation of rumors can influence public health, and government bodies should establish guidelines to monitor and mitigate the negative impact of such rumors.

The Impact of Information Sources on COVID-19-Related Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) among University Students: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study

COVID-19 is an emerging respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus accompanied by a tsunami of misinformation and fake news. This can weaken the public health responses by affecting the COVID-19-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of the public. Therefore, this cross-sectional study was designed during the early stage of the pandemic to evaluate the KAP of Palestinian university students and their commonly used information sources. We found that the most trusted information source among students was the World Health Organization (WHO), followed by the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) briefings and healthcare workers, whereas social media was the most frequently used source of information. The participants exhibited a high level of COVID-19-related knowledge, having an average score of 8.65 (range: 0–10). In total, 76% avoided going to crowded places, and only 33% wore a mask while being outdoors. The vast majority (93%) checked the accuracy of COVID-19-related information before publishing it, 56% used the WHO and MoH briefings for fact-checking, and only 8% relied on healthcare workers. This was particularly the case for those who lived in refugee camps. This study provides an insight into the information sources used by Palestinian university students, the sources they trust, and the information formats they prefer. These results may help public health authorities to locate the information sources through which university students should be targeted. Efforts should be made to recommend healthcare workers as credible information sources. In this way, they will be able to prevent the spread of misleading information and provide high-quality information, especially within unconventional settings such as refugee camps.