Article
Dynamics of social corrections to peers sharing COVID-19 misinformation on WhatsApp in Brazil
Registro en:
VIJAYKUMAR, Santosh et al. Dynamics of social corrections to peers sharing COVID-19 misinformation on WhatsApp in Brazil. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, [s. l.], v. 29, n. 1, p. 33–42, 2022.
1067-5027
10.1093/jamia/ocab219
Autor
Vijaykumar, Santosh
Rogerson, Daniel T.
Yan, Jin
Oliveira-Costa, Mariella Silva de
Resumen
Objective: Online COVID-19 misinformation is a serious concern in Brazil, home to the second-largest WhatsApp
user base and the second-highest number of COVID-19 deaths. We examined the extent to which WhatsApp
users might be willing to correct their peers who might share COVID-19 misinformation.
Materials and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional online survey using Qualtrics among 726 Brazilian
adults to identify the types of social correction behaviors (SCBs) and health and technological factors that shape
the performance of these behaviors.
Results: Brazil’s WhatsApp users expressed medium to high levels of willingness to engage in SCBs. We discovered
3 modes of SCBs: correction to the group, correction to the sender only, and passive or no correction.
WhatsApp users with lower levels of educational attainment and from younger age groups were less inclined to
provide corrections. Lastly, the perceived severity of COVID-19 and the ability to critically evaluate a message
were positively associated with providing corrections to either the group or the sender.
Discussion: The demographic analyses point to the need to strengthen information literacy among population
groups that are younger with lower levels of educational attainment. These efforts could facilitate individuallevel
contributions to the global fight against misinformation by the World Health Organization in collaboration
with member states, social media companies, and civil society.
Conclusion: Our study suggests that Brazil’s WhatsApp users might be willing to actively respond with feedback
when exposed to COVID-19 misinformation by their peers on small-world networks like WhatsApp groups.