Public perceptions of the perils of misinformation in pandemic

ABSTRACT

Objective: To investigate the public perception regarding to the perils of misinformation in pandemic. Methodology: This quantitative cross-sectional design study with convenient sampling techniques was conducted in the IAHS, UAJ&K in March to April 2020 after ethical approval. Sample with both genders, using any types of social media between 15 to 65 years of ages was selected. Those who used social media for 2 years were included in the study, while new social media users were excluded. The date were collected from online survey with structural questionnaire and was analyzed on SPSS version 21. Results: Out of 229 participants, 107(46%) said that pandemic was due to punishment from God. Some thought it resulted from some sort of human negligence (N=40, 17%), and a few of them said it's a man-made biological weapon (N=15, 6%). The participants had physical (N=17, 7%), social (N=66, 28%), economical (N=67, 29%), and mental (N=35, 15%) issues due to pandemic. To avoid the misinformation majority respondent decided to Stop posting/sharing (N=99, 53%) provide or share authentic information (N=97, 42%), motivate other (N= 94, 41%) and delete/report misinformation (N=65, 25%). Conclusion: Misinformation leads to panic attack, sleep disturbance and develop mistrust. So it is important to arrange awareness campaigns for public on the issue of detrimental effects of misinformation.