Public sphere attitudes towards the rumor sources of the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from community perceptions in Iran.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In the COVID-19 pandemic, rumors travel far faster than the outbreak itself. The current study aimed to evaluate the factors affecting the attitudes of individuals towards the rumors-producing media in Iran.

Methods

An online cross-sectional survey was conducted in Iran in March 2020 on the source of information and rumors, along with the perception of individuals regarding the reasons for rumors propagation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results

Results showed that the majority of the participants (59.3%) believed that social media were the main source of rumors. The lack of a reliable and formal news resource was also considered the most common cause of rumoring by the participants (63.6%). An evaluation was carried out to identify the main source of misin

SUBMITTER: Banakar M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8628274 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature