"We provide a scoping review of Digital Health Interventions (DHIs) that mitigate COVID-19 misinformation and disinformation seeding and spread. Materials and Methods: We applied our search protocol to PubMed, PsychINFO, and Web of Science to screen 1666 articles. The 17 articles included in this pa
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per are experimental and interventional studies that developed and tested public consumer-facing DHIs. We examined these DHIs to understand digital features, incorporation of theory, the role of healthcare professionals, end-user experience, and implementation issues. Results: The majority of studies (n=11) used social media in DHIs, but there was a lack of platform-agnostic generalizability. Only half of the studies (n=9) specified a theory, framework, or model to guide DHIs. Nine studies involve healthcare professionals as design or implementation contributors. Only one DHI was evaluated for user perceptions and acceptance. Discussion: The translation of advances in online social computing to interventions is sparse. The limited application of behavioral theory and cognitive models of reasoning has resulted in suboptimal targeting of psychosocial variables and individual factors that may drive resistance to misinformation. This affects large-scale implementation and community outreach efforts. DHIs optimized through community-engaged participatory methods that enable understanding of unique needs of vulnerable communities are urgently needed. Conclusions: We recommend community engagement and theory-guided engineering of equitable DHIs. It is important to consider the problem of misinformation and disinformation through a multilevel lens that illuminates personal, clinical, cultural, and social pathways to mitigate the negative consequences of misinformation and disinformation on human health and wellness." (Abstract)
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"Amid a rise of misinformation worldwide, this paper examines digital misinformation literacy as it relates to COVID-19 news in East Africa. The study is grounded in inoculation theory and contributes to the body of scholarship examining misinformation literacy beyond the Western world. Data came fr
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om a comparative, cross-national survey in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda (N = 3,203), making this the largest known empirical investigation into digital misinformation literacy in the region within the context of a pandemic. Paper surveys were distributed throughout all three countries in 2021. The data revealed differences in actual and perceived misinformation literacy levels. Kenyans and Rwandans were better at detecting false COVID-19 statements in the media, whereas Ugandans were better at detecting true messages. Similarly, Kenyans’ and Rwandans’ perceived levels of digital misinformation literacy were higher than Ugandans’. Regarding perceived exposure to COVID-19 information, Kenyans felt they were exposed to fake COVID-19 news online more often than Ugandans, who felt more exposed than Rwandans. This research contributes to the growing literature on digital misinformation literacy, an area which isn’t significantly studied in many world regions, especially in Africa." (Abstract)
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"Misinformation can decrease public confidence in vaccines, and reduce vaccination intent and uptake. One strategy for countering these negative impacts comes from inoculation theory. Similar to biological vaccination, inoculation theory posits that exposure to a weakened form of misinformation can
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develop cognitive immunity, reducing the likelihood of being misled. Online games offer an interactive, technologydriven, and scalable solution using an active form of inoculation that engages and incentivizes players to build resilience against misinformation. We document the development of the critical thinking game Cranky Uncle Vaccine. The game applies research findings from inoculation theory, critical thinking, humor in science communication, and serious games. The game content was iterated through a series of co-design workshops in Kampala (Uganda), Kitale (Kenya), and Kigali (Rwanda). Workshop participants offered feedback on cartoon character design, gameplay experience, and the game’s content, helping to make the game more culturally relevant and avoid unintended consequences in East African countries. Our co-design methodology offers an approach for further adaptation of the Cranky Uncle Vaccine game to other regions, as well as a template for developing locally relevant interventions to counter future infodemics." (Abstract)
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"Pro-Russian disinformation networks and American anti-science websites are pushing anti-vaccine content that is reaching large West African Facebook Pages and Groups. These networks are spreading social media posts and articles that contain misleading messages about Covid-19 vaccines. These message
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s are amplifying wider narratives that could erode trust inkey actors and institutions connected to vaccines. Networks of French disinformation websites are playing a crucial role in enabling this content to reach West African social media. These websites are artificially amplifying English-language articles by publishing translated versions. Each version features slight modifications to the title, imagery or source quoted. The resulting variety of articles increases the chance that these messages will reach diverse online communities. North American and European conspiracy theories are reaching both Anglophone and Francophone West Africa on social media and are a key feature of online vaccinemisinformation in the region. These include conspiracy theories about depopulation programs, a totalitarian, one-world government known as the New World Order, and even certain elements of QAnon, such as the idea that former US President Donald Trump was secretly fighting a corrupt political and financial establishment." (Ke findings)
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"The Palgrave Handbook of Media Misinformation provides a comprehensive and cutting-edge resource on the critical debates surrounding fake news and misinformation online. Spanning all continents and linking academic, journalistic, and educational communities, this collection offers authoritative cov
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erage of conspiracy theories, the post-Trump and Brexit landscape, and the role of big tech in threats to democracy and free speech. The collection moves through a diagnosis of misinformation and its impacts on democracy and civic societies, the 'mainstreaming' of conspiracy theory, the impacts of misinformation on health and science, and the increasing significance of data visualization. Following these diagnoses, the handbook moves to responses from two communities of practice - the world of journalism and the field of media literacy." (Publisher description)
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"This topical volume illuminates ethical issues brought to the fore by the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on a broad range of case studies from different regions, it provides insights into the multiple and complex ways in which the pandemic has shaped media ethics. Chapters employ a wide range of innova
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tive theoretical and methodological approaches to dissect enduring and emerging ethical questions during the pandemic, providing lucid accounts of axiological dimensions in pandemic discourses, ethics of emotional mood, ethical challenges and dilemmas in news reporting, propaganda, misinformation, disinformation, and Othering. While the case studies in this book are unique, the authors have extrapolated common strands from their analysis of ethical issues applicable to any other country or region during the pandemic, contributing unique perspectives on how media ethics are circumscribed by global health pandemics." (Publisher description)
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"Responding to widespread concerns about misinformation’s impact on democracy, we conducted an experiment in which we exposed German participants to different degrees of misinformation on COVID-19 connected to politicized (immigration) and apolitical (runners) issues (N = 1,490). Our key findings
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show that partially false information is more credible and persuasive than completely false information, and also more difficult to correct. People with congruent prior attitudes are more likely to perceive misinformation as credible and agree with its positions than people with incongruent prior attitudes. We further show that although fact-checkers can lower the perceived credibility of misinformation on both runners and migrants, corrective messages do not affect attitudes toward migrants. As a key contribution, we show that different degrees of misinformation can have different impacts: more nuanced deviations from facticity may be more harmful as they are difficult to detect and correct while being more credible." (Abstract)
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"The book is organized into four parts. Part I presents the phenomenon of information disorder, as well as explains why the term “fake news” should be replaced with adequate terms, depending on the method and type of manipulation. Also, there are pieces focusing on ChatGPT and the possible impac
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t of Artificial Intelligence in the information environment. Part II breaks down the disinformation that targets the state of Kosovo, meanwhile, in part III, the focus is on the pandemic, the misinformation that accompanied COVID-19 over the years, and the three-step model that helps everyone protect themselves from all types of information disorder. Part IV deals with one of the most comprehensive solutions to the information disorder that of media education, as well as Kosovo's challenges in extending media education in society." (Preface, page 6)
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"Conspiracy Theories in the Time of Covid-19 provides a wide-ranging analysis of the emergence and development of conspiracy theories during the Covid-19 pandemic, with a focus on the US and the UK. The book combines digital methods analysis of large datasets assembled from social media with politic
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ally and culturally contextualised close readings informed by cultural studies. In contrast to other studies which often have an alarmist take on the "infodemic," it places Covid-19 conspiracy theories in a longer historical perspective. It also argues against the tendency to view conspiracy theories as merely evidence of a fringe or pathological way of thinking. Instead, the starting assumption is that conspiracy theories, including Covid-19 conspiracy theories, often reflect genuine and legitimate concerns, even if their factual claims are wide of the mark. The authors examine the nature and origins of the conspiracy theories that have emerged; the identity and rationale of those drawn to Covid-19 conspiracism; how these conspiracy theories fit within the wider political, economic and technological landscape of the online information environment; and proposed interventions from social media platforms and regulatory agencies." (Publisher description)
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"Internews in Zimbabwe collected 276 rumors on-line and 36 offline in the communities of Masvingo, Matabeleland South, Matabeleland North, Bulawayo, and Midlands. The most trending rumors include that COVID-19 vaccines are unsafe for children (35%), COVID-19 vaccines cause death (31%), COVID-19 vacc
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ines are experimental (19%), COVID-19 is endemic (8%), and that government is using COVID-19 for corruption (8%). 41% of collected rumors showed sentiment of confusion, 14% indicated anger or frustration, 14% showed fear, 10% were sad, 3% demonstrated excitement and 3% were shocked." (Rumor data overview, page 2)
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"The article analyzes the QAnon phenomenon and the anti-vaxxer movement of COVID-19 deniers as typological manifestations of conspiratorial “alternative rationality.” A number of hypotheses have been proposed: during a pandemic and a parallel infodemic, conspiracy thinking quickly becomes transb
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oundary; all conspiracy theories share certain features; they are discursive (according to Foucault) and underlain by the question of power; growing public distrust of the government is one of the fundamental reasons for the popularity of conspiracy theories. The article proves that the transboundary nature of information contributes to the global spread of conspiracy theories, but they cannot be universalized because they have local specifics in each country (region)." (Abstract)
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"This report takes stock of the early behavioural sciences literature on COVID-19 misinformation. Specifically, it addresses the following three main questions: (1) Who was most likely to believe or share COVID-19 misinformation? (2) What were the consequences of being exposed to or believing COVID-
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19 misinformation? (3) Which behavioural policy interventions were effective in countering COVID-19 misinformation? In addition to addressing these core questions, the report also provides a snapshot of the narratives of COVID-19 misinformation and the prevalence and spread of this misinformation. The report provides insights into policies that can help foster societal resilience against misinformation beyond the specific case of COVID-19, thereby contributing to policy preparation for future crises." (Abstract, page 1)
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"This study sought to identify changes, if any, to the communication and community engagement landscape as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It did not aim to evaluate communication, community engagement and accountability (CCEA) during the pandemic but, rather, aimed to bring together some of the
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key literature, recommend additional reading and reflect on the perspectives of different stakeholders. In addition to a thorough literature review, the study represents the views of approximately 150 community-based participants of focus group discussions, 44 key informants and 181 global survey respondents. For some, the shift to remote ways of working led to an increase in digital access and reach, while for others this complicated existing communication channels and deepened the digital divide. Principally, this report finds that very little has changed in the CCEA landscape, a conclusion nuanced heavily by contextual differences within and between communities, and between countries." (Executive Summary, page 5)
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"This study employed three machine learning algorithms, Naïve Bayes, SVM, and a Balanced Random Forest to build a sentiment model that can detect Muslim sentiment about Muslim clerics’ anti-misinformation campaign on YouTube. Overall, 9701 comments were collected. An LDA-based topic model was als
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o employed to understand the most expressed topics in the YouTube comments. Results: The confusion matrix and accuracy score assessment revealed that the balanced random forest-based model demonstrated the best performance. Overall, the sentiment analysis discovered that 74 percent of the comments were negative, and 26 percent were positive. An LDA-based topic model also revealed the eight most discussed topics associated with ten keywords in those YouTube comments. Practical implications: The sentiment and topic model from this study will particularly help public health professionals and researchers to better understand the nature of vaccine misinformation and hesitancy in the Muslim communities." (Abstract)
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"This document is intended for health authorities designing RCCE interventions in the context of the current monkeypox outbreak in Europe. It supplements the ‘Interim advice on Risk Communication and Community Engagement during the monkeypox outbreak in Europe, 2022’ jointly published by ECDC an
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d the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe. It provides examples and approaches for RCCE, while building on experience from past outbreaks. These examples can be used to inspire countries in the European Region to develop community engagement approaches and risk communication strategies adapted to the national, regional and/or local context and specific target audiences in their response to the ongoing monkeypox outbreak." (Introduction)
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"The CEU Democracy Institute's Center for Media, Data and Society (CMDS) embarked in November 2020 on a one-year project aimed at mapping and analyzing the work of the world's fact-checking groups, with a focus on their challenges, needs and successes. The project started with a survey of 30 fact-ch
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ecking organizations worldwide, which were asked to indicate the importance of certain impact-related challenges. Based on the survey's results and research, CMDS identified four areas of interest, and also groups that have been successful in addressing these challenges. These fact-checking organizations, some of them lesser-known groups established in the past few years, and their modus operandi have been showcased in four articles covering audience outreach, methods to tackle misinformation on social media, fact-checking misinformation about the Covid-19 pandemic and fact-checking for teenagers, which were published over the course of the past year. This booklet collects all these papers in one place, presenting the results of the survey and the articles produced as part of the project, as well as an additional, fifth piece that looks into the future of fact-checking." (Introduction)
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"This guidance is based on the latest evidence and practical experience with IM in the WHO European Region and is designed to provide stakeholders with operational support for IM preparedness, readiness and response in public health emergencies. The intended readership is mainly response authorities
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, stakeholders and partners in countries in the Region in both the coordination and operations, including in communities. It provides practical ways to guide IM and best practices in the technical area of RCCE. Rather than offering specific, one-size-fits-all recommendations, it offers options and approaches that may be applied in each context. The guidance applies primarily to the WHO European Region because of differences among the WHO regions in organizational, structural, cultural and other dimensions of implementation of RCCE and IM, although other regions, headquarters or other stakeholders may use, apply or adapt it." (Executive summary)
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"In the first part, Understanding the problem, the Toolkit provides an overview of the health misinformation landscape, particularly in relation to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), and expands on the roles of gatekeepers and sources before describing the problem as multilayered and requiring compreh
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ensive and coordinated solutions. In the second part, Consulting stakeholders, the Toolkit expands on the roles and initiatives currently taken by governments and international organizations, traditional media and social media platforms, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and experts, to provide an extensive understanding of the angles at which the problem of health misinformation is being approached. In the third and final part, The way forward, the Toolkit describes how different stakeholders have collaborated during COVID-19 to tackle the infodemic, and how that spirit and approach can and should be taken forward to other types of health misinformation." (Executive summary, page viii)
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"We aimed to synthesize the existing research on misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines spread on social media platforms and its effects. The secondary aim was to gain insight and gather knowledge about whether misinformation about autism and COVID-19 vaccines is being spread on social media platfor
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ms [...] The search yielded 757 records, with 45 articles selected for this review. We identified 3 main themes of misinformation: medical misinformation, vaccine development, and conspiracies. Twitter was the most studied social media platform, followed by Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. A vast majority of studies were from industrialized Western countries. We identified 19 studies in which the effect of social media misinformation on vaccine hesitancy was measured or discussed. These studies implied that the misinformation spread on social media had a negative effect on vaccine hesitancy and uptake." (Abstract)
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"This study aims to explore the perspectives of policymakers involved in ongoing efforts to boost vaccine confidence in the Philippines following a 2017 Dengvaxia scare and the current COVID-19 pandemic. Between August and November 2020, we conducted 19 semi-structured narrative interviews with purp
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osively selected policymakers from governmental agencies and nongovernmental organizations in the Philippines. Interviews were conducted online, transcribed, and analyzed following the tenets of reflexive thematic analysis. We present results as an emerging model that draws on a chronology conveyed by policymakers in their own words. The Dengvaxia scare proved ‘a decisive wedge’ that splintered Filipino society and pitted governmental agencies against one another. The scare stoked distorted vaccination narratives, which were ‘accelerated rapidly’ via social media, and ignited feelings of uncertainty among policymakers of how to convey clear, accurate health messaging and how to prevent drops in care-seeking more broadly." (Abstract)
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