Abstract
BackgroundOne of the challenges posed by the novel coronavirus pandemic is the infodemic risk, that is, a huge amount of information being published on the topic, along with misinformation and rumours; with social media, this phenomenon is amplified, and it goes faster and further. Around 100 million people in Brazil (50% of the inhabitants) are users of social media networks – almost half of the country’s population. Most of the information on the Internet is unregulated, and its quality remains questionable.MethodsIn this study, we examine the main characteristics of misinformation published on the topic. We analysed 232 pieces of misinformation published by the Brazilian fact-checking service “Agência Lupa”. The following aspects of each news item were analysed: a) In what social media has it circulated?; b) What is the content classification, sentiment and type of misinformation?; d) Are there recurrent themes in the sample studied?ResultsMost were published on Facebook (76%), followed by WhatsApp, with 10% of total cases. Half of the stories (47%) are classified as “real-life”, that is, the focus is on everyday situations, or circumstances involving people. Regarding the type of misinformation, there is a preponderance of fabricated content, with 53% of total, followed by false context (34%) and misleading content (13%). Wrong information was mostly published in text format (47%). We found that 92.9% of misinformation classified as “fabricated content” are “health tips”, and 88.9% of “virtual scams” are also fabricated.ConclusionBrazilian media and science communicators must understand the main characteristics of misinformation in social media about COVID-19, so that they can develop attractive, up-to-date and evidence-based content that helps to increase health literacy and counteract the spread of false information.
Highlights
One of the challenges posed by the novel coronavirus pandemic is the infodemic risk, that is, a huge amount of information being published on the topic, along with misinformation and rumours; with social media, this phenomenon is amplified, and it goes faster and further
The context of the study: the novel coronavirus pandemic in Brazil The novel coronavirus in Brazil arrived in a scenario of a conservative, far-right government led by President Jair Bolsonaro, which systematically denies the severity of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic [6]
Are the stories that focus on politicians, governments, parties, political decisions, aid from governments, laws, decrees, or messages of adulation/adoration aimed at a politician, and they represent 23% of the total amount of registered news
Summary
One of the challenges posed by the novel coronavirus pandemic is the infodemic risk, that is, a huge amount of information being published on the topic, along with misinformation and rumours; with social media, this phenomenon is amplified, and it goes faster and further. Biancovilli et al BMC Public Health (2021) 21:1200 investigated true and false news stories on the Twitter network concluded that falsehood was spread significantly faster and more broadly than the truth in all categories of information [5] For this reason, it is important that the population is informed in real time but that information needs to be correct and updated, so as many people as possible can act properly to avoid spreading the disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) [10] criticised Brazil’s stance in controlling the pandemic, and for that reason the president threatened to pull Brazil out of the institution [11]
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