Understanding and countering the spread of conspiracy theories in social networks: Evidence from epidemiological models of Twitter data.

ABSTRACT: Conspiracy theories in social networks are considered to have adverse effects on individuals' compliance with public health measures in the context of a pandemic situation. A deeper understanding of how conspiracy theories propagate through social networks is critical for the development of countermeasures. The present work focuses on a novel approach to characterize the propagation of conspiracy theories through social networks by applying epidemiological models to Twitter data. A Twitter dataset was searched for tweets containing hashtags indicating belief in the "5GCoronavirus" conspiracy theory, which states that the COVID-19 pandemic is a result of, or enhanced by, the enrollment of the 5G mobile network. Despite the absence of any scientific evidence, the "5GCoronavirus" conspiracy t

SUBMITTER: Kauk J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8360523 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature