Project
Misinformation during the covid pandemic
Despite the widespread attention to the harmful consequences of mis- and disinformation during the covid pandemic, very little is known about how much mis- and disinformation was present during the covid pandemic and what the effects of mis- and disinformation were. However, to prepare for future pandemic and disasters, it is of vital importance to better understand the role of mis- and disinformation during the covid pandemic.
Aim
This project aims to shed light on the presence and effects of mis- and disinformation during the covid pandemic, and how we can combat mis- and disinformation during future pandemics. Specifically, the aims of this project are to estimate the amount and characteristics of misinformation on social media, explain changes in the amount and characteristics of misinformation, understand the effects of misinformation on different vulnerable groups, and develop a media literacy intervention.
Approach
We train a machine learning model to detect misinformation and its characteristics in Tweets posted during the pandemic. To explain the variation in the amount and characteristics of misinformation over time, we employ a time-series analysis. Finally, we use experiments to study the effects of misinformation and the media literacy intervention.