Dynamics of social corrections to peers sharing COVID-19 misinformation on WhatsApp in Brazil.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Online COVID-19 misinformation is a serious concern in Brazil, home to the second-largest WhatsApp user base and the second-highest number of COVID-19 deaths. We examined the extent to which WhatsApp users might be willing to correct their peers who might share COVID-19 misinformation.

Materials and methods

We conducted a cross-sectional online survey using Qualtrics among 726 Brazilian adults to identify the types of social correction behaviors (SCBs) and health and technological factors that shape the performance of these behaviors.

Results

Brazil's WhatsApp users expressed medium to high levels of willingness to engage in SCBs. We discovered 3 modes of SCBs: correction to the group, correction to the sender only, and passive or no correction. WhatsApp use

SUBMITTER: Vijaykumar S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8586730 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature