www.ssoar.info
Empowering Users to Respond to Misinformation
about Covid-19
Vraga, Emily K.; Tully, Melissa; Bode, Leticia
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Zeitschriftenartikel / journal article
Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation:
Vraga, E. K., Tully, M., & Bode, L. (2020). Empowering Users to Respond to Misinformation about Covid-19. Media and
Communication, 8(2), 475-479. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v8i2.3200
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Media and Communication (ISSN: 2183–2439)
2020, Volume 8, Issue 2, Pages 475–479
DOI: 10.17645/mac.v8i2.3200
Commentary
Empowering Users to Respond to Misinformation about Covid-19
Emily K. Vraga
1,
*, Melissa Tully
2
and Leticia Bode
3
1
Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA;
E-Mail: ekvraga@umn.edu
2
School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA;
E-Mail: melissa-tully@uiowa.edu
3
Communication, Culture, and Technology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057, USA;
E-Mail: lb871@georgetown.edu
* Corresponding author
Submitted: 28 April 2020 | Accepted: 8 May 2020 | Published: 26 June 2020
Abstract
The World Health Organization has declared that misinformation shared on social media about Covid-19 is an “infodemic”
that must be fought alongside the pandemic itself. We reflect on how news literacy and science literacy can provide a foun-
dation to combat misinformation about Covid-19 by giving social media users the tools to identify, consume, and share
high-quality information. These skills can be put into practice to combat the infodemic by amplifying quality information
and actively correcting misinformation seen on social media. We conclude by considering the extent to which what we
know about these literacies and related behaviors can be extended to less-researched areas like the Global South.
Keywords
Coronavirus; correction; Covid-19; misinformation; news literacy; social media
Issue
This commentary is part of the issue “Health and Science Controversies in the Digital World: News, Mis/Disinformation
and Public Engagement” edited by An Nguyen (Bournemouth University, UK) and Daniel Catalan (University Carlos III of
Madrid, Spain).
© 2020 by the authors; licensee Cogitatio (Lisbon, Portugal). This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribu-
tion 4.0 International License (CC BY).
1. Introduction
Social media are often blamed for spreading misinforma-
tion. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the World Health
Organization (WHO) raised concerns about an “info-
demic” (WHO, 2020), as social media amplify and exacer-
bate the spread of misinformation and uncertainty that
has long surrounded emerging health issues (Dalrymple,
Young, & Tully, 2016; Zarocostas, 2020).
Misinformation on social media is a problem that
must be taken seriously in the case of Covid-19.
Misinformation circulates surrounding the origins of
the virus, how it spreads, and how to cure it (Brennen,
Simon, Howard, & Nielsen, 2020), which could deter
effective preventative behaviors. For example, misinfor-
mation about chloroquine as a “cure” for Covid-19 has
resulted in negative health outcomes including death
(Lovelace, 2020).
At the same time, the Covid-19 pandemic represents
a novel context in which to consider how to mitigate
misinformation. The voracious public appetite for news
(Jurkowitz & Mitchell, 2020b; Koeze & Popper, 2020) cre-
ates an opportunity to leverage this interest into long-
lasting, effective information consumption habits that
could serve as a grounding for online behaviors.
Building news literacy and science literacy provide
a foundation to improve information consumption pro-
cesses by giving social media users the tools to identify,
consume, and share high-quality information regarding
Covid-19. With these tools, users can expand the reach of
expert organizations and correct misinformation on the
virus as it spreads.
Media and Communication, 2020, Volume 8, Issue 2, Pages 475–479 475
2. Bolstering News and Science Literacy
Growing concerns about misinformation have sparked
a reemergence of interest in how news literacy might
help audiences make informed information decisions
(Mantas, 2020). News literacy is defined as ‘knowledge
of the personal and social processes by which news is pro-
duced, distributed, and consumed, and skills that allow
users some control over these processes’ (Vraga, Tully,
Maksl, Craft, & Ashley, in press), and must be developed
in combination with a sense of efficacy, social norms
about the value of news literacy, and positive attitudes
towards the application of news literacy.
Applying news literacy provides one solution to help
people manage social media environments, where good
and bad information comingle (Vosoughi, Roy, & Aral,
2018). Social media information surrounding Covid-19
exemplifies this: One study found that 48% of Americans
said they have seen at least some made-up news about
Covid-19, and this percentage was highest among those
who say social media was the most common way they
get news (Jurkowitz & Mitchell, 2020a; Schaeffer, 2020).
Previous research has suggested that familiarity with
news routines and experience with news literacy helps
audiences identify misinformation (Amazeen & Bucy,
2019; Kahne & Bowyer, 2017) and reduce their accep-
tance of conspiracy theories (Craft, Ashley, & Maksl,
2017). Likewise, news literacy and valuing news literacy
are associated with more skepticism of information on
social media (Vraga & Tully, 2019). Therefore, a back-
ground in news literacy may also help people identify
misinformation regarding Covid-19.
Given the emergent nature of the crisis, however,
we must consider what can be done to boost news lit-
eracy and its application to information about Covid-19
right now. Even those high in news literacy may not
apply their knowledge and skills to the difficult task
of differentiating high-quality from low-quality informa-
tion (Tully, Vraga, & Smithson, 2018; Vraga et al., in
press). Therefore, interventions that translate news liter-
acy into behaviors that shape information consumption
surrounding Covid-19 should be prioritized.
This translation is not necessarily easy. Our recent
research shows that a tweet offering tips for identifying
misinformation (such as double-checking the source, be-
ing aware of your reaction, and watching for red flags)
led people to rate a false news story about the flu vac-
cine as less credible (Tully, Vraga, & Bode, 2020). Notably,
however, that message did not make people more recep-
tive to expert correction on the topic, which is often con-
nected to reduced misperceptions (Vraga, Bode, & Tully,
2020). Other news literacy messages that reminded peo-
ple about biases in news and personal interpretations
were ineffective for recognition of misinformation and
reception of expert correction (Tully et al., 2020; Vraga
et al., 2020).
This research provides concrete suggestions for news
literacy efforts on social media. First, news literacy mes-
saging should offer concrete recommendations regard-
ing misinformation and its characteristics, rather than
general messages about information processing. Second,
invoking injunctive and descriptive norms about what
people should be or are already doing in terms of crit-
ical information processing may help people see shar-
ing high-quality information as both normal and impor-
tant (Cialdini et al., 2006; Vraga et al., in press). Third,
frequent posting of news literacy messages may be nec-
essary to have an impact, as our previous research
found that news literacy messages often went unno-
ticed (Tully et al., 2020). In addition, repeated messages
can build on each other and address distinct strategies
and behaviors.
As one example, the News Literacy Project’s (2020)
“sanitize before you share” posts, which offer four con-
crete steps to stop the spread of misinformation on
Covid-19, meet many of these criteria. Likewise, National
Public Radio released a cartoon sharing tips for identi-
fying and responding to misinformation that may prove
not only informative but engaging (Jin & Parks, 2020).
These types of messages should be shared frequently
and widely to boost their impact, and may be im-
proved by invoking normative beliefs about the value of
news literacy.
Messages that focus on scientific or health literacy
could further the utility of news literacy efforts. Public
knowledge regarding the scientific process is generally
low, which can be problematic in the context of a rapidly
evolving pandemic like Covid-19. For example, a 2019
Pew research study (Kennedy & Hefferon, 2019) found
that 76% of Americans can define an incubation period,
67% understand that science is an iterative process, and
60% are aware of the importance of a control group in de-
termining drug effectiveness. This knowledge is directly
relevant to Covid-19, as efforts to mitigate the spread of
the disease are tied to the relatively long incubation pe-
riod, and promising new drugs require clinical trials with
control groups. Helping the public understand the scien-
tific process may facilitate acceptance of evolving recom-
mendations like the use of face masks to prevent the
spread of Covid-19, without undermining trust in scien-
tists and health professionals.
3. Empowering Users
With a stronger foundation in understanding news, sci-
ence, and health domains, users may not just be more
critical consumers of information on Covid-19, but em-
boldened to improve the information environment for
everyone. One study of UK news sharers found that many
more people had shared content they later found out
was misinformation on social media (that is, had shared
it thinking it was true) than those who knowingly shared
misinformation (Chadwick, Vaccari, & O’Loughlin, 2018).
If much of the misinformation circulating on social me-
dia is shared unwittingly, news and scientific literacy that
helps people distinguish between good and bad informa-
Media and Communication, 2020, Volume 8, Issue 2, Pages 475–479 476
tion on Covid-19 could reduce the amount of misinforma-
tion shared.
Another way that news and scientific literacy may
be acted upon is through more active curation of so-
cial media feeds that contain high-quality information
to be shared. The American public broadly approves of
the job of public health officials during the Covid-19
outbreak (Funk, 2020) and holds favorable views of the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the
Department of Health and Human Services (Pew, 2020).
If news literacy behaviors involve not just consuming but
sharing accurate news, these positive views of experts
may translate into people sharing expert content about
Covid-19 on their own feeds, broadening the reach of
this content.
News literacy advocates may also encourage users to
correct Covid-19 misinformation they see on social me-
dia as an extension of their news literacy knowledge and
skills. The “sanitize before you share” post from the News
Literacy Project could expand that sanitizing behavior to
include correcting others; the NPR cartoon already of-
fers that suggestion. Experimental studies demonstrate
that user corrections of health misinformation about a
range of controversial and emerging health issues re-
duce misperceptions among the community seeing that
interaction (Bode & Vraga, 2018; Vraga & Bode, 2017).
Now is an ideal time to encourage and facilitate this
user correction.
4. A Global Response
Just as the pandemic is a global problem that requires a
global response, so, too, should efforts to bolster science
and news literacy and to reduce misinformation around
Covid-19 be global. However, current research is not
evenly distributed. An April 2020 compilation of public
opinion polls reflects the discrepancy in data about pub-
lic understanding of the virus—accounting for 147 polls,
29 were conducted in the United States, 23 in the UK,
and 12 in China, with far fewer in the rest of the world
(Gilani Research Foundation, 2020). Although not an ex-
haustive list, this account provides a snapshot of the lim-
ited data about Covid-19 from the Global South and even
from many parts of Europe.
Similarly, we have limited research on news liter-
acy outside of the Global North. One notable study
found that news literacy varies widely across countries
and that literacy matters for how people use social
media for news and information (Newman, Fletcher,
Kalogeropoulos, Levy, & Nielsen, 2018). Designing inter-
ventions and messages that address the core tenets of
news literacy and are also adaptable to distinct contexts
is a challenge that researchers and practitioners must ad-
dress as a means of equipping audiences with the knowl-
edge and skills they need to engage with Covid-19 in-
formation (Vraga et al., in press). For example, in many
countries, WhatsApp is a popular source of information
and connection, making it fertile ground for the spread of
misinformation (Resende et al., 2019). Developing news
literacy interventions for WhatsApp and similar apps rep-
resents both a challenge and opportunity as both misin-
formation and correction are likely to be more trusted
when originating from close ties (Margolin, Hannak, &
Weber, 2018).
More work is needed to understand how well re-
search on science and news literacy translates across con-
texts. For example, trust in government, health officials
and media systems vary widely by country, which affects
how information is received and acted upon by citizens
(AFP, 2020; Bratton & Gyimah-Boadi, 2016). Asking peo-
ple to promote messages about Covid-19 from public
health organizations may not be merited or useful in all
contexts. Likewise, norms around social media uses and
expectations about information dissemination on social
media platforms likely vary by country, culture, and con-
text (Newman et al., 2018).
5. Conclusion
In many ways, Covid-19 represents a novel pandemic, in
terms of its spread and impact on the global economy
as well as the media environment in which people learn
about the virus and its effects. But we can build from ex-
isting research to improve how we respond to misinfor-
mation about the virus. Fostering news and science lit-
eracy provides a flexible solution that can help people
distinguish quality information about Covid-19 and em-
power more active curation of their social media feeds
to protect themselves and others from misinformation.
To be effective, we must consider global implementation,
starting with an improved understanding of diverse con-
texts and existing science and news literacy to develop
appropriate interventions.
Conflict of Interests
The authors declare no conflict of interests.
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