The Covid-19 Infodemic and the Efficacy of Interventions Intended to Reduce Misinformation

Dados Bibliográficos

ID6367201
AutoresSarah E Krep (0000-0002-0924-4234, Department of Government at Cornell University John L. Wetherill Professor in the , Ithaca, NY, USA), Douglas L Kriner (0000-0002-9353-2334, Clinton Rossiter Professor in American Institutions in the Department of Government at Cornell University , Ithaca, NY, USA)
Ano2022
Volume86
Fascículo1
Páginas162-175
Data de publicação2022-03-18
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoPublic Opinion Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0033-362X • E-ISSN: 1537-5331
EditoraOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/poq/nfab075
OpenAlexW4205139520
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas8
Referências citadas28

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted social media platforms to take unprecedented steps—ranging from false tags to journalistic factchecks—to stanch the flow of misinformation that could pose a health risk. However, there is little evidence about the relative efficacy of these approaches in this unique context of a pandemic. Using a pair of survey experiments, we examine whether false tags and journalistic factchecks reduce accuracy misperceptions and sharing propensity on social media that can spread false claims. False tags had little effect on subjects’ accuracy assessments and social media sharing. Journalistic factchecks that offer accurate information to counter misinformation were more effective in reducing both misperceptions and sharing on social media. Further, we find no evidence of partisan backfire effects, even in response to interventions against claims with a plausible partisan valence. Our results suggest that journalistic factchecks provide an effective counternarrative to COVID-19 misinformation even in the context of the increasing politicization of America’s pandemic response and polarization more generally

Context (archaeology · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Geography · Internet privacy · Misinformation · Pandemic · Political science · Psychological intervention · Public relations · Social media · Computer Science · Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection · Medicine · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Psychology · Social Media and Politics · Social Psychology