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A Deadly Infodemic: Social Media and the Power of COVID-19 Misinformation.
J Med Internet Res. 2022 02 01; 24(2):e35552.JM

Abstract

COVID-19 is currently the third leading cause of death in the United States, and unvaccinated people continue to die in high numbers. Vaccine hesitancy and vaccine refusal are fueled by COVID-19 misinformation and disinformation on social media platforms. This online COVID-19 infodemic has deadly consequences. In this editorial, the authors examine the roles that social media companies play in the COVID-19 infodemic and their obligations to end it. They describe how fake news about the virus developed on social media and acknowledge the initially muted response by the scientific community to counteract misinformation. The authors then challenge social media companies to better mitigate the COVID-19 infodemic, describing legal and ethical imperatives to do so. They close with recommendations for better partnerships with community influencers and implementation scientists, and they provide the next steps for all readers to consider. This guest editorial accompanies the Journal of Medical Internet Research special theme issue, "Social Media, Ethics, and COVID-19 Misinformation."

Links

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Authors+Show Affiliations

Gisondi MA
The Precision Education and Assessment Research Lab, Department of Emergency Medicine, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, United States.
Barber R
Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States.
Faust JS
Department of Emergency Medicine, Brigham and Womens Hospital, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States.
Raja A
Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States.
Strehlow MC
Stanford Emergency Medicine International, Department of Emergency Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States.
Westafer LM
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Massachusetts, Worchester, MA, United States.
Gottlieb M
Department of Emergency Medicine, Rush University, Chicago, IL, United States.

MeSH

COVID-19CommunicationHumansInfodemicSARS-CoV-2Social MediaUnited States

Pub Type(s)

Editorial

Language

eng

PubMed ID

35007204

Citation

Gisondi, Michael A., et al. "A Deadly Infodemic: Social Media and the Power of COVID-19 Misinformation." Journal of Medical Internet Research, vol. 24, no. 2, 2022, pp. e35552.
Gisondi MA, Barber R, Faust JS, et al. A Deadly Infodemic: Social Media and the Power of COVID-19 Misinformation. J Med Internet Res. 2022;24(2):e35552.
Gisondi, M. A., Barber, R., Faust, J. S., Raja, A., Strehlow, M. C., Westafer, L. M., & Gottlieb, M. (2022). A Deadly Infodemic: Social Media and the Power of COVID-19 Misinformation. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 24(2), e35552. https://doi.org/10.2196/35552
Gisondi MA, et al. A Deadly Infodemic: Social Media and the Power of COVID-19 Misinformation. J Med Internet Res. 2022 02 1;24(2):e35552. PubMed PMID: 35007204.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - A Deadly Infodemic: Social Media and the Power of COVID-19 Misinformation. AU - Gisondi,Michael A, AU - Barber,Rachel, AU - Faust,Jemery Samuel, AU - Raja,Ali, AU - Strehlow,Matthew C, AU - Westafer,Lauren M, AU - Gottlieb,Michael, Y1 - 2022/02/01/ PY - 2021/12/08/received PY - 2022/01/06/accepted PY - 2022/01/03/revised PY - 2022/1/11/pubmed PY - 2022/2/8/medline PY - 2022/1/10/entrez KW - COVID-19 KW - disinformation KW - ethics KW - infodemic KW - infoveillance KW - misinformation KW - social media KW - vaccination KW - vaccine KW - vaccine hesitancy SP - e35552 EP - e35552 JF - Journal of medical Internet research JO - J Med Internet Res VL - 24 IS - 2 N2 - COVID-19 is currently the third leading cause of death in the United States, and unvaccinated people continue to die in high numbers. Vaccine hesitancy and vaccine refusal are fueled by COVID-19 misinformation and disinformation on social media platforms. This online COVID-19 infodemic has deadly consequences. In this editorial, the authors examine the roles that social media companies play in the COVID-19 infodemic and their obligations to end it. They describe how fake news about the virus developed on social media and acknowledge the initially muted response by the scientific community to counteract misinformation. The authors then challenge social media companies to better mitigate the COVID-19 infodemic, describing legal and ethical imperatives to do so. They close with recommendations for better partnerships with community influencers and implementation scientists, and they provide the next steps for all readers to consider. This guest editorial accompanies the Journal of Medical Internet Research special theme issue, "Social Media, Ethics, and COVID-19 Misinformation." SN - 1438-8871 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/35007204/A_Deadly_Infodemic:_Social_Media_and_the_Power_of_COVID_19_Misinformation_ DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -