Marc Dupuis
ABSTRACT
Misinformation is not new; however, the proliferation of social media has resulted in a much broader reach and instantaneous impact. Results from such proliferation were seen during the 2016 and 2020 elections in the United States. The reach of false information in the context of a U.S. Presidential election would not be the pinnacle of the harm it can cause. In the current context, the spread of false information in the middle of a pandemic and related to causes, cures, and conspiracies, has the potential to do real harm, if it has not already. Now that vaccines are widely available in some countries, this harm may result in lives being lost that did not have to be. In this paper, we explore vaccination status in the context of information sources used by individuals. The results suggest that a lack of trust and engagement in traditional news outlets is associated with lower levels of COVID-19 vaccination initiation or completion. Higher levels of engagement with sources that have been used in the past to propagate conspiracy theories, such as YouTube, are also associated with lower levels of vaccination initiation or completion. Public health implications and the need for greater information literacy are discussed.
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Index Terms
- Misinformation and Disinformation in the Era of COVID-19: The Role of Primary Information Sources and the Development of Attitudes Toward Vaccination
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