Background: Since the beginning of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, fake news and misleading information have circulated worldwide, which can profoundly affect public health communication.
Objective: We investigated online search behavior related to the COVID-19 outbreak and the attitudes of “infodemic monikers” (ie, erroneous information that gives rise to interpretative mistakes, fake news, episodes of racism, etc) circulating in Italy.
Methods: By using Google Trends to explore the internet search activity related to COVID-19 from January to March 2020, article titles from the most read newspapers and government websites were mined to investigate the attitudes of infodemic monikers circulating across various regions and cities in Italy. Search volume values and average peak comparison (APC) values were used to analyze the results.
Results: Keywords such as “novel coronavirus,” “China coronavirus,” “COVID-19,” “2019-nCOV,” and “SARS-COV-2” were the top infodemic and scientific COVID-19 terms trending in Italy. The top five searches related to health were “face masks,” “amuchina” (disinfectant), “symptoms of the novel coronavirus,” “health bulletin,” and “vaccines for coronavirus.” The regions of Umbria and Basilicata recorded a high number of infodemic monikers (APC weighted total >140). Misinformation was widely circulated in the Campania region, and racism-related information was widespread in Umbria and Basilicata. These monikers were frequently searched (APC weighted total >100) in more than 10 major cities in Italy, including Rome.
Conclusions: We identified a growing regional and population-level interest in COVID-19 in Italy. The majority of searches were related to amuchina, face masks, health bulletins, and COVID-19 symptoms. Since a large number of infodemic monikers were observed across Italy, we recommend that health agencies use Google Trends to predict human behavior as well as to manage misinformation circulation in Italy.

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COVID-19-Related Web Search Behaviors and Infodemic Attitudes in Italy: Infodemiological Study.

Objective To review misinformation related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on social media during the first phase of the pandemic and to discuss ways of countering misinformation. Methods We searched PubMed®, Scopus, Embase®, PsycInfo and Google Scholar databases on 5 May 2020 and 1 June 2020 for publications related to COVID-19 and social media which dealt with misinformation and which were primary empirical studies. We followed the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses and the guidelines for using a measurement tool to assess systematic reviews. Evidence quality and the risk of bias of included studies were classified using the grading of recommendations assessment, development and evaluation approach. The review is registered in the international prospective register of systematic reviews (PROSPERO; CRD42020182154). Findings We identified 22 studies for inclusion in the qualitative synthesis. The proportion of COVID-19 misinformation on social media ranged from 0.2% (413/212 846) to 28.8% (194/673) of posts. Of the 22 studies, 11 did not categorize the type of COVID-19-related misinformation, nine described specific misinformation myths and two reported sarcasm or humour related to COVID-19. Only four studies addressed the possible consequences of COVID-19-related misinformation: all reported that it led to fear or panic. Conclusion Social media play an increasingly important role in spreading both accurate information and misinformation. The findings of this review may help health-care organizations prepare their responses to subsequent phases in the COVID-19 infodemic and to future infodemics in general.

COVID-19-related misinformation on social media: a systematic review.

The COVID-19 crisis has revealed structural failures in governance and coordination on a global scale. With related policy interventions dependent on verifiable evidence, pandemics require governments to not only consider the input of experts but also ensure that science is translated for public understanding. However, misinformation and fake news, including content shared through social media, compromise the efficacy of evidence-based policy interventions and undermine the credibility of scientific expertise with potentially longer-term consequences. We introduce a formal mathematical model to understand factors influencing the behavior of social media users when encountering fake news. The model illustrates that direct efforts by social media platforms and governments, along with informal pressure from social networks, can reduce the likelihood that users who encounter fake news embrace and further circulate it. This study has implications at a practical level for crisis response in politically fractious settings and at a theoretical level for research about post-truth and the construction of fact.

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Fighting fake news in the COVID-19 era: policy insights from an equilibrium model.

The use of Twitter by state leaders and its impact on the public during the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19-related online fake news poses a threat to Indian public health. In response, this study seeks to understand the five important features of COVID-19-related social media fake news by analyzing 125 Indian fake news. The analysis produces five major findings based on five research questions. First, the seven themes of fake news are health, religiopolitical, political, crime, entertainment, religious, and miscellaneous. Health-related fake news (67.2%) is on the top of the list that includes medicine, medical and healthcare facilities, viral infection, and doctor-patient issues. Second, the seven types of fake news contents are text, photo, audio, video, text and photo, text and video, and text and photo and video. More fake news takes the form of text and video (47.2%). Third, online media produces more fake news (94.4%) than mainstream media (5.6%). More interestingly, four social media platforms: Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, and YouTube, produce most of the fake news. Fourth, relatively more fake news has international connections (54.4%) as the COVID-19 pandemic is a global phenomenon. Fifth, most of the COVID-19-related fake news is negative (63.2%) which could be a real threat to public health. These results may contribute to the academic understanding of social media fake news during the present and future health-crisis period. This paper concludes by stating some limitations regarding the data source and results, as well as provides a few suggestions for further research.

COVID-19-Related Social Media Fake News in India

Since the Coronavirus health emergency was declared, many are the fake news that have circulated around this topic, including rumours, conspiracy theories and myths. According to the World Economic Forum, fake news is one of the threats in today's societies, since this type of information circulates fast and is often inaccurate and misleading. Moreover, fake-news are far more shared than evidence-based news among social media users and thus, this can potentially lead to decisions that do not consider the individual’s best interest. Drawing from this evidence, the present study aims at comparing the type of Tweets and Sina Weibo posts regarding COVID-19 that contain either false or scientific veracious information. To that end 1923 messages from each social media were retrieved, classified and compared. Results show that there is more false news published and shared on Twitter than in Sina Weibo, at the same time science-based evidence is more shared on Twitter than in Weibo but less than false news. This stresses the need to find effective practices to limit the circulation of false information.

/pdf/false-news-around-covid-19-circulated-less-on-sina-weibo-1jvckzfmpq.pdf

False news around COVID-19 circulated less on sina weibo than on twitter. How to overcome false information?

La Ensenanza Religiosa Escolar (ERE) en Espana es una asignatura de obligada oferta para los centros y de libre decision para el alumnado desde 1979. Entre las competencias que ha de adquirir el alumnado en esta materia se encuentra la comprension lectora de la Biblia. Las escuelas catolicas tradicionalmente han abordado la ensenanza de esta materia desde una pedagogia tradicional. Sin embargo, se ha estudiado menos la ensenanza religiosa desde una perspectiva dialogica. Esta investigacion se ha centrado en analizar la implementacion de una actuacion concreta denominada Tertulias Dialogicas a partir de la lectura y debate de la Biblia con alumnado de primaria en el Pais Vasco. La metodologia empleada analiza las interacciones y dialogos de 22 ninos y ninas en 7 sesiones. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que el alumnado participa a traves de interacciones dialogicas que reflejan procesos de pensamiento de orden superior. Concretamente, se producen en un total de 596 intervenciones en las que participa la mayoria del alumnado y se caracterizan por realizar aportaciones, preguntas, mostrar acuerdos y desacuerdos, y dar razonamientos a partir del texto biblico. Con ello, las Tertulias Teologicas Dialogicas introducen una aproximacion dialogica en la ensenanza religiosa

https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/7587920.pdf

Las Tertulias Teológicas Dialógicas en educación primaria: aprendizaje y enseñanza de la religión en un espacio dialógico

espanolLos estudios de doctorado conducen al nivel mas alto de cualificacion academica, promoviendo el desarrollo de competencias que habiliten para el desempeno como lideres en la generacion de conocimiento cientifico y en la aplicacion del mismo a la mejora de la sociedad, a traves de la investigacion y la innovacion. El proceso de adquisicion de competencias supone un recorrido formativo exigente y de larga duracion que conlleva dificultades que es necesario vencer con ayuda de factores tanto personales como contextuales. En esta investigacion se ha recogido informacion sobre las percepciones de los y las investigadoras (8 participantes, 5 mujeres y 3 hombres) en formacion con respecto al proceso de aprendizaje en los tres momentos del programa de doctorado: expectativas de aprendizaje, dificultades y recursos en el inicio, dificultades y apoyos experimentados, asi como aprendizajes parciales percibidos en el proceso, y aprendizajes percibidos al final, una vez defendida y aprobada la tesis doctoral. Los resultados han permitido identificar los aspectos contextuales e individuales fundamentales en cada uno de los tres momentos de la formacion de las personas investigadoras. Estos hallazgos tienen importantes implicaciones para la planificacion y el desarrollo de la formacion doctoral. EnglishDoctoral studies lead to the highest level of academic qualification, promoting the development of competences that enable individuals to perform as leaders in the generation of scientific knowledge and its application in the improvement of society, through research and innovation. The process of acquiring competences involves a demanding and long-lasting training path that entails difficulties that must be overcome with the help of both personal and contextual factors. In this research, information has been gathered on the perceptions of trainee researchers (8 participants: 5 women and 3 men) regarding the learning process at the three moments of the doctoral program: learning expectations, difficulties and resources at the beginning, difficulties and support experienced, as well as partial learning perceived in the process, and learning perceived at the end, once the doctoral thesis has been defended and approved. The results have made it possible to identify the fundamental contextual and individual aspects in each of the three moments of the researchers’ training. These findings have important implications for the planning and development of doctoral training programs. portuguesOs estudos de doutorado conduzem ao nivel mais alto de qualificacao academica, promovendo o desenvolvimento de competencias que facilitem o desempenho como lideres na geracao de conhecimento cientifico e na aplicacao deste conhecimento a melhora da sociedade, atraves da pesquisa e inovacao. O processo de aquisicao de competencias supoe um percurso formativo exigente e de longa duracao, que acarreta dificuldades que e preciso vencer com ajuda de fatores pessoais e contextuais. Nesta pesquisa levantou-se informacao sobre as percepcoes dos e das pesquisadoras (8 participantes, 5 mulheres e 3 homens) em formacao a respeito do processo de aprendizagem nos tres momentos do programa de doutorado: expectativas de aprendizagem, dificuldades e recursos no inicio, dificuldades e apoios experimentados, assim como a aprendizagem parcial percebida no processo e a aprendizagem percebida no fim, uma vez defendida e aprovada a tese doutoral. Os resultados permitiram identificar os aspectos contextuais e individuais fundamentais em cada um dos tres momentos da formacao dos pesquisadores. Estes achados tem importantes implicacoes para o planejamento e o desenvolvimento da formacao doutoral.

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Percepciones de Investigadores en Formación respecto al Desarrollo de Competencias

Since the Coronavirus health emergency was declared, many are the fake news that have circulated around this topic, including rumors, conspiracy theories and myths. According to the World Economic Forum, fake news is one of the threats in today's societies, since this type of information circulates fast and is often inaccurate and misleading. Moreover, fake-news are far more shared than evidence-based news among social media users and thus, this can potentially lead to decisions that do not consider the individual’s best interest. Drawing from this evidence, the present study aims at comparing the type of tweets and Sina Weibo posts regarding COVID-19 that contain either false or scientific veracious information from February 6 and 7 of 2020. To that end 1923 messages from each social media were retrieved, classified and compared. Results from this analysis show that there is more false news published and shared on Twitter than in Sina Weibo, at the same time science-based evidence is more shared on Twitter than in Weibo but less than false news. This stresses the need to find effective practices to limit the circulation of false information.

Untold false news around COVID-19 circulated less on sina weibo than on twitter. How to overcome false information?/ Las noticias falsas sobre COVID-19 circularon menos en sina weibo que en twitter. ¿Cómo superar la información falsa?

Beatriz Villarejo Carballido

Papers

False news around COVID-19 circulated less on sina weibo than on twitter. How to overcome false information?

Las Tertulias Teológicas Dialógicas en educación primaria: aprendizaje y enseñanza de la religión en un espacio dialógico

Percepciones de Investigadores en Formación respecto al Desarrollo de Competencias

Untold false news around COVID-19 circulated less on sina weibo than on twitter. How to overcome false information?/ Las noticias falsas sobre COVID-19 circularon menos en sina weibo que en twitter. ¿Cómo superar la información falsa?