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The Covid-19 Misinfodemic

Moving Beyond Fact-Checking

Bibliographic Data

ID21650562
AuthorsWen-Ying Sylvia Chou (0000-0002-9140-6094, Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD, USA), Anna Gaysynsky (0000-0001-5612-5572, ICF Next, Rockville, MD, USA, corresponding author), Robin C Vanderpool (0000-0001-9995-4485, Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD, USA)
Year2021
Volume48
Issue1
Pages9-13
Publication date2021-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHealth Education & Behavior (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1090-1981 • E-ISSN: 1552-6127
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1090198120980675
PMID33322939
OpenAlexW3111978504
LanguageEN
Citations received33
References cited26

Online misinformation regarding COVID-19 has undermined public health efforts to control the novel coronavirus. To date, public health organizations’ efforts to counter COVID-19 misinformation have focused on identifying and correcting false information on social media platforms. Citing extant literature in health communication and psychology, we argue that these fact-checking efforts are a necessary, but insufficient, response to health misinformation. First, research suggests that fact-checking has several important limitations and is rarely successful in fully undoing the effects of misinformation exposure. Second, there are many factors driving misinformation sharing and acceptance in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic—such as emotions, distrust, cognitive biases, racism, and xenophobia—and these factors both make individuals more vulnerable to certain types of misinformation and also make them impervious to future correction attempts. We conclude by outlining several additional measures, beyond fact-checking, that may help further mitigate the effects of misinformation in the current pandemic

2019-20 coronavirus outbreak · Environmental health · Outbreak · Pandemic · Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection · Medicine · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Psychology · Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy · Virology

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Unique citing works33
Citations per year6,6
Citation span2021 - 2026 (6)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 33
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