Bots and Misinformation Spread on Social Media: Implications for COVID-19.
J Med Internet Res
; 23(5): e26933, 2021 05 20.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1273307
ABSTRACT
As of March 2021, the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been responsible for over 115 million cases of COVID-19 worldwide, resulting in over 2.5 million deaths. As the virus spread exponentially, so did its media coverage, resulting in a proliferation of conflicting information on social media platforms-a so-called "infodemic." In this viewpoint, we survey past literature investigating the role of automated accounts, or "bots," in spreading such misinformation, drawing connections to the COVID-19 pandemic. We also review strategies used by bots to spread (mis)information and examine the potential origins of bots. We conclude by conducting and presenting a secondary analysis of data sets of known bots in which we find that up to 66% of bots are discussing COVID-19. The proliferation of COVID-19 (mis)information by bots, coupled with human susceptibility to believing and sharing misinformation, may well impact the course of the pandemic.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Communication
/
Social Media
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
J Med Internet Res
Journal subject:
Medical Informatics
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
26933
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