Regulation of COVID-19 fake news infodemic in China and India

Rodrigues, Usha M.; Xu, Jian

doi:10.1177/1329878x20948202

Cited by 68 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 5 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…COVID-19 news reporters and creators and sharers of social media content have been subjected to continual criticism for disseminating misleading or false information. The term 'infodemic' has been used in some popular media outlets and academic analyses to describe the wealth of 'fake news' and conspiracy theories circulating, particularly in online news sites and social media platforms [16][17][18][19][20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning about COVID-19: a qualitative interview study of Australians’ use of information sources

Lupton

Lewis

2021

BMC Public Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background A multitude of information sources are available to publics when novel infectious diseases first emerge. In this paper, we adopt a qualitative approach to investigate how Australians learnt about the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 and what sources of information they had found most useful and valuable during the early months of the pandemic. Methods In-depth semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with a diverse group of 40 Australian adults in mid-2020 about their experiences of the COVID-19 crisis. Participants were recruited through Facebook advertising. Detailed case studies were created for each participant, providing the basis of a thematic analysis which focused on the participants’ responses to the questions about COVID-19-related information sources. Results Diverse sources of COVID-19-related information, including traditional media, online media and in-person interactions, were actively accessed, appraised and engaged with by participants. There was a high level of interest in COVID-19 information as people grappled with uncertainty, anxiety and feeling overwhelmed. Certain key events or experiences made people become aware that the outbreak was threatening Australia and potentially themselves. Most people demonstrated keen awareness that misinformation was rife in news outlets and social media sites and that they were taking steps to determine the accuracy of information. High trust was placed in health experts, scientists and government sources to provide reliable information. Also important to participants were informal discussions with friends and family members who were experts or working in relevant fields, as well as engaging in-person in interactions and hearing from friends and family who lived overseas about what COVID-19 conditions were like there. Conclusion A constantly changing news environment raises challenges for effective communication of risk and containment advice. People can become confused, distressed and overwhelmed by the plethora of information sources and fast-changing news environment. On the other hand, seeking out information can provide reassurance and comfort in response to anxiety and uncertainty. Clarity and consistency in risk messaging is important, as is responding quickly to changes in information and misinformation. Further research should seek to identify any changes in use of and trust in information sources as time goes by.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning about COVID-19: a qualitative interview study of Australians’ use of information sources

Lupton

Lewis

2021

BMC Public Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Yet, the central government's handling of the pandemic was relatively effective. This effective crisis management was made possible by draconian lockdowns in association with the employment of contact-tracking technologies and broader digital surveillance to control both people's physical mobility and their access to information (Rodrigues & Xu, 2020;Yang et al, 2021). Such measures, which ensure that a collective response to the pandemic is achieved within the borders of the Chinese nation-state, are predicated on authoritarianism and securitisation (de Kloet, Lin, & Chow, 2020).…”

Section: The Political Debates On Traditional Chinese Medicinementioning

confidence: 99%

Traditional Chinese medicine works: a politicised scientific debate in the COVID-19 pandemic

Peng

Chen

2021

Asian Journal of Communication

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The COVID-19 pandemic provoked public attention to medical treatments across the world. In China, a debate on the efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) took place amid the government's active promotion of it for COVID-19 patients. Rather than addressing such a debate from the perspective of medical science or health communication, this paper explores how TCM was politicised on Chinese social media. The research is based on a case study, collecting data from the most popular Chinese community question-answering (CQA) site -Zhihu. By triangulating content analysis (CA) and thematic analysis (TA), we reveal how nationalist sentiments and dissenting opinions are expressed through approval or criticism of TCM among the Zhihu community. The research findings uncover the political momentum behind the debate by shedding light on how Zhihu users engage with public affairs through medical commentaries. This paper thus contributes to understanding the politicised discourse of TCM in China in the wake of the global pandemic.

show abstract

“…However, there are reasons to believe that the related social media messages tended to support COVID-19 vaccination, as research has shown that the Chinese media, including social media, in general frame the development of COVID-19 vaccines in China positively [16]. Furthermore, the country has taken some measures to tackle the spread of online misinformation about COVID-19 based on the Cybersecurity Law (2017) [43]. Social media users are encouraged to report such messages to the social media platforms and/or ask for fact-checking.…”

Section: ± 11mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Social media users are encouraged to report such messages to the social media platforms and/or ask for fact-checking. Messages containing detected rumours and misinformation would be removed from the social media, and the responsible accounts may be suspended [43]. Thus, some 'filtering' of COVID-19 vaccination-related information on social media may have occurred in China, which may lead to the possibility that more positive than negative messages about COVID-19 vaccination have appeared on social media platforms.…”

Section: ± 11mentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioural intention of receiving COVID-19 vaccination, social media exposures and peer discussions in China

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The study aimed to investigate behavioural intentions to receive free and self-paid COVID-19 vaccinations (BICV-F and BICV-SP) among Chinese university students if the vaccine was 80% effective with rare mild side effects, to examine their associations with social media exposures and peer discussions regarding COVID-19 vaccination, and to explore the mediational role of perceived information sufficiency about COVID-19 vaccination. An online anonymous survey (N = 6922) was conducted in November 2020 in five Chinese provinces. Logistic regression and path analysis were adopted. The prevalence of BICV-F and BICV-SP were 78.1% and 57.7%. BICV-F was positively associated with the frequencies of passive social media exposure (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.32, P < 0.001), active social media interaction (AOR = 1.13, P < 0.001) and peer discussions (AOR = 1.17, P < 0.001). Indirect effects of the three factors on BICV-F via perceived information sufficiency were all significant (P < 0.001). The direct effect of active social media interaction on BICV-F was significantly negative (P < 0.001). Similar associations/mediations were observed for BICV-SP. The COVID-19 vaccination intention of Chinese university students needs improvement. Boosting social media exposures and peer discussions may raise students' perceived information sufficiency and subsequently increase their vaccination intention. Considering the potential negative effect of active social media interaction, caution is needed when using social media to promote COVID-19 vaccination. 8Sitong Luo et al.

show abstract

Regulation of COVID-19 fake news infodemic in China and India

Cited by 68 publications

References 5 publications

Learning about COVID-19: a qualitative interview study of Australians’ use of information sources

Learning about COVID-19: a qualitative interview study of Australians’ use of information sources

Traditional Chinese medicine works: a politicised scientific debate in the COVID-19 pandemic

Behavioural intention of receiving COVID-19 vaccination, social media exposures and peer discussions in China

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About