Use of bot and content flags to limit the spread of misinformation among social networks: a behavior and attitude survey

Abstract

The COVID-19 infodemic is driven partially by Twitter bots. Flagging bot accounts and the misinformation they share could provide one strategy for preventing the spread of false information online. This article reports on an experiment ( N = 299) conducted with participants in the USA to see whether flagging tweets as coming from bot accounts and as containing misinformation can lower participants’ self-reported engagement and attitudes about the tweets. This experiment also showed participants tweets that aligned with their previously held beliefs to determine how flags affect their overall opinions. Results showed that flagging tweets lowered participants’ attitudes about them, though this effect was less pronounced in participants who frequently used social media or consumed more news, especially from Facebook or Fox News. Some participants also changed their opinions after seeing the flagged tweets. The results suggest that social media companies can flag suspicious or inaccurate content as a way to fight misinformation. Flagging could be built into future automated fact-checking systems and other misinformation abatement strategies of the social network analysis and mining community.

A Review of Misinformation Across Disciplines: Implication for Online Education

“…Some studies demonstrated the importance of social media played in educating people about misinformation. For example, flagging misinformation on social media is an important strategy to help people discern misinformation [32]. Social media per se can support combatting vaccine misinformation by implementing standards to educate people [49].…”

“…Combating misinformation, scholars recommend strategies to deal with online education. These strategies include, for example, (1) creating team work among professional disciplines for credible resources [40,50], (2) delivering diverse professional opinions for accurate information dissemination [26], (3) updating regularly by authoritative agencies about scientific information via support of social media [50], (4) helping people to critically evaluate information using emotional and community support [53], (5) offering informational literacy education with affective support [26; 40], (6) recognizing personal needs in evaluating sources [2], (7) using detective models and regulative devices on social media to ensure publishing only scientific information for public good (e.g., flag suspicious information to warn people, [32]), and (8) promoting equitable society to help eliminate misinformation which disproportionally impacted the marginalized minorities due to race, gender, class, ethnicity, and socioeconomic statuses [14].…”

A Review of Misinformation Across Disciplines: Implication for Online Education

“…Combating misinformation, scholars recommend strategies to deal with online education. These strategies include, for example, (1) creating team work among professional disciplines for credible resources [40,50], (2) delivering diverse professional opinions for accurate information dissemination [26], (3) updating regularly by authoritative agencies about scientific information via support of social media [50], (4) helping people to critically evaluate information using emotional and community support [53], (5) offering informational literacy education with affective support [26; 40], (6) recognizing personal needs in evaluating sources [2], (7) using detective models and regulative devices on social media to ensure publishing only scientific information for public good (e.g., flag suspicious information to warn people, [32]), and (8) promoting equitable society to help eliminate misinformation which disproportionally impacted the marginalized minorities due to race, gender, class, ethnicity, and socioeconomic statuses [14].…”

Information Chaos: An Adapted Framework Describing Citizens’ Experiences with Information During COVID-19

“…Lies spread faster than the truth [13] and erroneous information on the internet can be nearly impossible to purge. Fortunately, some social media platforms are now taking action such as flagging false claims [14] or suspending users.…”