Bots and Misinformation Spread on Social Media: Implications for COVID-19.
COVID-19
Twitter
bots
coronavirus
disinformation
fake news
infodemic
infodemiology
infoveillance
misinformation
online communities
public health
social listening
social media
spambots
Journal
Journal of medical Internet research
ISSN: 1438-8871
Titre abrégé: J Med Internet Res
Pays: Canada
ID NLM: 100959882
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
20 05 2021
20 05 2021
Historique:
received:
04
01
2021
accepted:
16
04
2021
revised:
04
03
2021
pubmed:
22
4
2021
medline:
24
6
2021
entrez:
21
4
2021
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
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.
Identifiants
pubmed: 33882014
pii: v23i5e26933
doi: 10.2196/26933
pmc: PMC8139392
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
e26933Informations de copyright
©McKenzie Himelein-Wachowiak, Salvatore Giorgi, Amanda Devoto, Muhammad Rahman, Lyle Ungar, H Andrew Schwartz, David H Epstein, Lorenzo Leggio, Brenda Curtis. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (https://www.jmir.org), 20.05.2021.
Références
Nature. 2020 May;581(7809):371-374
pubmed: 32461658
Nat Hum Behav. 2021 Mar;5(3):337-348
pubmed: 33547453
Ann Intern Med. 2020 Oct 20;173(8):623-631
pubmed: 32673060
Online Soc Netw Media. 2021 Mar;22:100104
pubmed: 33623836
Psychol Med. 2020 Jun 09;:1-7
pubmed: 32513320
Nat Commun. 2019 Jan 2;10(1):7
pubmed: 30602729
Cureus. 2020 Mar 13;12(3):e7255
pubmed: 32292669
JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2017 Dec 20;3(4):e98
pubmed: 29263018
J Med Internet Res. 2020 Oct 12;22(10):e21597
pubmed: 32960775
Am J Public Health. 2020 Mar;110(3):357-362
pubmed: 31855475
Nat Commun. 2018 Nov 20;9(1):4787
pubmed: 30459415
Science. 2018 Mar 9;359(6380):1146-1151
pubmed: 29590045
Clin Infect Dis. 2020 Jul 16;:
pubmed: 32674126
Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2020 Nov;163(5):931-933
pubmed: 32513072
CNS Neurol Disord Drug Targets. 2010 Mar;9(1):33-44
pubmed: 20201813
Am J Public Health. 2018 Oct;108(10):1378-1384
pubmed: 30138075
J Med Internet Res. 2020 Jun 26;22(6):e19659
pubmed: 32558655
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Nov 23;17(22):
pubmed: 33238567