The challenge of infodemic: a scoping review of strategies to tackle health-related fake news

Abstract

Abstract Introduction The term “infodemic” was coined by David J. Rothkopf during the SARS epidemic to describe the phenomenon of the uncontrolled spread of speculation amplified by the media and the technologies of the 21st century. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a tremendous increase of misinformation was observed. The purpose of this scoping review is to collect and describe all the strategies, tools, and recommendations available from the literature aimed at counteracting infodemic and provide useful information for decision makers to build effective responses. Methods We performed a systematic search of scientific literature from 1 January 2018 to 31 January 2023 on PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus electronic databases. Eligible articles were English article analysing tools (strategies, policies, recommendations, guidance, guidelines, toolkits, etc) aiming at supervising, monitoring, preventing and countering infodemic. Results The overall research in the scientific databases yielded a total of 5,516 record. Following the inclusion and exclusion criteria, we selected 26 articles from scientific and grey literature. From the included articles, 21 public health actions were extracted. These recommendations were grouped into five main categories (“Strategies”) that act on the infodemic phenomenon: - Increasing the health literacy of the population - Surveillance of the spread of misinformation strategies - Checking and debunking misinformation strategies - Legal and Institutional strategies - Communicate and dissemination programs Conclusions The review showed a large number of stakeholders envolved (social media companies, healthcare professionals, institutions, population). To properly address the problem of infodemia, it will be essential the creation of a solid health network, capable to tackle the spread of fake news in every moment of the process, from the surveillance systems to the checking and debunking information. Key messages • Healthcare professionals have the responsibility of disseminating information in an understandable manner; government and authorities should implement laws to tackle the dissemination of fake news. • Social media companies (and their most famous users, the ‘influencers'), should take stronger actions to contain the dissemination of fake news.