COVID-19 disinformation and political engagement among communities of color: The role of media literacy

Abstract

Communities of color, suffering equity gaps and disproportionate COVID-19 effects, also must resist ongoing disinformation campaigns designed to impede their political influence. A representative, national survey (N=1264) of adults conducted June-July 2020 found that nonwhite respondents tended to report less COVID-19 knowledge, media literacy, and voting intent than white respondents, but more acceptance of COVID-19 disinformation and for risks associated with protesting for social justice. General media literacy skills are associated with COVID-19 knowledge and political engagement, while science media literacy is associated with less acceptance of COVID-19 disinformation. Media literacy skills appear important for empowering and informing communities of color.

“I enjoy thinking critically, and I'm in control”: Examining the influences of media literacy factors on misperceptions amidst the COVID-19 infodemic

“…Some in-depth interviews also showed that both journalists and social media users, notwithstanding perceiving these fact-checking mechanisms as sometimes useful, expressed strong distrust in them ( Brandtzaeg et al, 2018 , p. 1109). Considering these traps, scholars have highlighted the cognitive barrier role that individuals' media literacy could play to mitigate and resist misperceptions (e.g., Austin et al, 2021 ; Jang & Kim, 2018 ).…”

A Review of Misinformation Across Disciplines: Implication for Online Education

“…For example, people of color accepted more misinformation than white people. [4,42] offered an examination of factors contributing to the acceptance of online health misinformation). Lower socioeconomic status, older age, and lower educational level groups are also disproportionally impacted by misinformation [48].…”

A Review of Misinformation Across Disciplines: Implication for Online Education

“…The field of misinformation is growing. Misinformation research has been growing rapidly on topics such as COVID 19 [2,4,48], vaccine [6; 9, 30, 49], climate change [13,16,36], medical concerns [56], communication [8], memory [22], cognitive impacts on reading [45], new literacies [11], online education [9], political studies [11,1], and diversity [42] etc.…”