Misinformation and Fake News Are Only Part of the Problem

Source: Gordon Johnson/Pixabay

While the influence of fake news and misinformation is a problem that has impacted how some have engaged in protective measures to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, it is only part of the issue. Without addressing the other contributing factors, we are spinning our wheels when remedying the situation and getting back to a normal life.

A major contributor to the current situation, with vaccine hesitancy, protective measures such as face coverings and lockdowns to prevent the spread of COVID-19, is a general fear of the unknown. Initially, this fear of the unknown centered around COVID-19 itself. We have never experienced a global pandemic before. As the pandemic has wavered on, this fear has transferred to the COVID-19 vaccines. Many question the long-term side effects of the vaccines, the mRNA method used in creating the vaccines, and question why the vaccines are not yet FDA approved. These are legitimate concerns that need to be addressed.

That brings us to the trust issue. Many have legitimate reasons to distrust science, the medical profession, as well as mainstream news media. This distrust is generally brushed over when reporting hesitancy to engage in protective measures intended to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

This begs the question as to why distrust exists in the first place. There are historical reasons, such as the Tuskegee experiment and the prescription of thalidomide during pregnancy, that led to severe disabilities among thousands of children. There are also continuous concerns regarding dangerous pharmaceutical drugs that the FDA approved and the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. If vaccines are completely safe, many wonder why such a program even exists.

The current climate and recent events only make this distrust worse. Some find inconsistency in reports regarding the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines, Fauci has lied about lying about the efficacy of masks, the CDC has changed their mask mandates in response to the Delta variant, making some wonder if their decisions are based on science or if they previously caved to social pressure, nurses across the country continue to protest mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations, the CDC has falsely reported the COVID-19 numbers for the state of Florida, and the EU is presently looking into new possible side-effects of the COVID-19 vaccines.

There is also a growing distrust in mainstream news media. A new Gallup poll reports that almost 80% of those polled do not trust the mainstream news. This may exist for several reasons related to the four basic dimensions of media trust related to consumer confidence: journalists will cover relevant topics, focus on facts, present information accurately, and provide clear commentary. Biased reporting along partisan lines and information framing is common in mainstream news reporting and are contrary to these key aspects of media trust.

Additionally, if consumers have direct involvement with what is being covered in the news, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and see that their personal experiences are different from what is being reported, distrust grows (Gunther & Lasorsa, 1986). The current social, political, and economic environment can also directly impact trust in mainstream news media, alongside specific demographic characteristics of consumers, such as race and ethnicity, age, biological sex, socioeconomic indicators, political orientation, and right-wing authoritarianism.

The increase in alternative news sources, such as those shared via social media, has been associated with a tendency to question information from mainstream news sources. Interestingly, some research has found that this distrust has more impact on consumer behaviors related to the COVID-19 pandemic than believing fake news (Wright et al., under review).

The United States is also an individualistic society, which emphasizes the needs and desires of the individual over what is best for the entire group. Generally, American citizens are independent, self-sufficient, considered unique, and value autonomy. Americans have specific rights that have been granted to them under the Constitution. With this comes an ideal of personal freedom and a need to protect it.

This American trait, now highly politicized during the COVID-19 era, has traditionally been highly valued by citizens and desired by outsiders. This desire to protect personal freedom is part of why some pushed back against lockdowns at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and why many are in opposition to mask and vaccine mandates. Right or wrong, these are viewed as attacks on their constitutional personal freedom instead of measures to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

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All of this leads to misinformation and fake news that is frequently shared via social media, which undoubtedly is a problem when it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic. Believing that the COVID-19 vaccine will make people magnetic, turn them into chimpanzees, implant a microchip, change their DNA, or lead to infertility no doubt increases consumer hesitancy regarding the vaccine. This begs the question as to why such false posts via social media even exist.

We know that Facebook, for instance, collects a large amount of user data, which many have deemed an invasion of user privacy. We also know that Facebook’s algorithms based on user data collected are then used to decide which posts are promoted to users, including advertisements that make up Facebook’s main revenue. These algorithms then lead to echo chambers and confirmation bias among users, which is the main issue in believing in misinformation and fake news.

We know that News Guard has been able to identify the “super spreaders” of fake news via social media and that the majority of COVID-19 fake news and misinformation has been shared via social media by the “disinformation dozen."

We know that Facebook now tags fake news stories posted on their platform but that such tagging is ineffective in curbing the effects of fake news. We also know that Facebook has historically been pressured to do more about fake news on their platform, which is likely why they recently pulled 308 accounts disseminating COVID-19 related fake news and misinformation.

If we know so much, why does fake news on social media even exist? Our legislation has not kept up with the advances in technology and the rapid use of social media.

Unfortunately, the issues we currently see related to preventative measures to help stop the spread of COVID-19 are not all directly related to fake news and misinformation on social media. The individualistic nature of our society and desire to maintain personal freedom and fear of the unknown have led to some of the issues we currently face as a nation.

Distrust in science, the medical profession, and mainstream news media are also major problems. More efforts need to be made to rebuild that trust. If the root cause was only fake news and misinformation, this could be easily solved by reining in social media giants, such as Facebook.