Informational disorders on social media relating to COVID-19
Counter-measures against mis-/dis-information related to COVID-19 on social media
No. | Counter-measures | Approach to MDI | Type of approach | Platforms implementing it |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Flagging misinformation by regular users—double-checked by editors later | Decreases the quantity of MDI | Content-focused | Facebook, Twitter |
2 | Fact-checking by certified third parties | Decreases the quantity of MDI, hence the user’s interaction with it | Content-focused | Facebook, Twitter |
3 | Less visibility for repeated offenders (users who distribute MDI) in the news feed | Decrease in visibility of MDI, hence the user’s interaction with it | Content-focused + Context-focused | Facebook, YouTube, Reddit, Twitter |
4 | Deleting accounts of MDI creators and bots | Decreases the quantity of MDI | Content-focused | Facebook, YouTube, Twitter |
5 | Adding a visible link to official information on COVID-19 from WHO | Increases visibility of accurate information, presumably educates the users | Content-focused + Context-focused | Facebook, YouTube, Twitter |
6 | Creating a dedicated page for local news and official information on COVID-19, linking to it visibly | Increases visibility of accurate information, presumably educates the users | Content-focused + Context-focused | Facebook, Twitter |
7 | Displaying “related” items below posts about COVID-19, most of which are leading to fact-checked information | Increases diversity of the information to which the user is exposed, presumably educates the users | Context-focused + Content-focused | Facebook, YouTube |