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Health and science-related disinformation on COVID-19: A content analysis of hoaxes identified by fact-checkers in Spain

A massive “infodemic” developed in parallel with the global COVID-19 pandemic and contributed to public misinformation at a time when access to quality information was crucial. This research aimed to analyze the science and health-related hoaxes that were spread during the pandemic with the objectiv...

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Autores principales: León, Bienvenido, Martínez-Costa, María-Pilar, Salaverría, Ramón, López-Goñi, Ignacio
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9007356/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35417493
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0265995
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author León, Bienvenido
Martínez-Costa, María-Pilar
Salaverría, Ramón
López-Goñi, Ignacio
author_facet León, Bienvenido
Martínez-Costa, María-Pilar
Salaverría, Ramón
López-Goñi, Ignacio
author_sort León, Bienvenido
collection PubMed
description A massive “infodemic” developed in parallel with the global COVID-19 pandemic and contributed to public misinformation at a time when access to quality information was crucial. This research aimed to analyze the science and health-related hoaxes that were spread during the pandemic with the objectives of (1) identifying the characteristics of the form and content of such false information, and the platforms used to spread them, and (2) formulating a typology that can be used to classify the different types of hoaxes according to their connection with scientific information. The study was conducted by analyzing the content of hoaxes which were debunked by the three main fact-checking organizations in Spain in the three months following WHO’s announcement of the pandemic (N = 533). The results indicated that science and health content played a prominent role in shaping the spread of these hoaxes during the pandemic. The most common hoaxes on science and health involved information on scientific research or health management, used text, were based on deception, used real sources, were international in scope, and were spread through social networks. Based on the analysis, we proposed a system for classifying science and health-related hoaxes, and identified four types according to their connection to scientific knowledge: “hasty” science, decontextualized science, badly interpreted science, and falsehood without a scientific basis. The rampant propagation and widespread availability of disinformation point to the need to foster media and scientific caution and literacy among the public and increase awareness of the importance of timing and substantiation of scientific research. The results can be useful in improving media literacy to face disinformation, and the typology we formulate can help develop future systems for automated detection of health and science-related hoaxes.
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spelling pubmed-90073562022-04-14 Health and science-related disinformation on COVID-19: A content analysis of hoaxes identified by fact-checkers in Spain León, Bienvenido Martínez-Costa, María-Pilar Salaverría, Ramón López-Goñi, Ignacio PLoS One Research Article A massive “infodemic” developed in parallel with the global COVID-19 pandemic and contributed to public misinformation at a time when access to quality information was crucial. This research aimed to analyze the science and health-related hoaxes that were spread during the pandemic with the objectives of (1) identifying the characteristics of the form and content of such false information, and the platforms used to spread them, and (2) formulating a typology that can be used to classify the different types of hoaxes according to their connection with scientific information. The study was conducted by analyzing the content of hoaxes which were debunked by the three main fact-checking organizations in Spain in the three months following WHO’s announcement of the pandemic (N = 533). The results indicated that science and health content played a prominent role in shaping the spread of these hoaxes during the pandemic. The most common hoaxes on science and health involved information on scientific research or health management, used text, were based on deception, used real sources, were international in scope, and were spread through social networks. Based on the analysis, we proposed a system for classifying science and health-related hoaxes, and identified four types according to their connection to scientific knowledge: “hasty” science, decontextualized science, badly interpreted science, and falsehood without a scientific basis. The rampant propagation and widespread availability of disinformation point to the need to foster media and scientific caution and literacy among the public and increase awareness of the importance of timing and substantiation of scientific research. The results can be useful in improving media literacy to face disinformation, and the typology we formulate can help develop future systems for automated detection of health and science-related hoaxes. Public Library of Science 2022-04-13 /pmc/articles/PMC9007356/ /pubmed/35417493 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0265995 Text en © 2022 León et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
León, Bienvenido
Martínez-Costa, María-Pilar
Salaverría, Ramón
López-Goñi, Ignacio
Health and science-related disinformation on COVID-19: A content analysis of hoaxes identified by fact-checkers in Spain
title Health and science-related disinformation on COVID-19: A content analysis of hoaxes identified by fact-checkers in Spain
title_full Health and science-related disinformation on COVID-19: A content analysis of hoaxes identified by fact-checkers in Spain
title_fullStr Health and science-related disinformation on COVID-19: A content analysis of hoaxes identified by fact-checkers in Spain
title_full_unstemmed Health and science-related disinformation on COVID-19: A content analysis of hoaxes identified by fact-checkers in Spain
title_short Health and science-related disinformation on COVID-19: A content analysis of hoaxes identified by fact-checkers in Spain
title_sort health and science-related disinformation on covid-19: a content analysis of hoaxes identified by fact-checkers in spain
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9007356/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35417493
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0265995
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