Causes and Effects of the Misinformation Epidemic

• Humans are wired to share negative news, and much of the news surrounding COVID-19 has been negative.
• Misinformation is more successful when the public has less information on a topic. A novel pandemic is the perfect environment for misinformation to take hold.
• Unproven medications have been touted as treatments for COVID-19 despite lacking any scientific evidence

How did the misinformation epidemic gain so much momentum? This traction has deep underlying psychological, educational, and political motivations. Firstly, humans are wired to share negative news over positive news. A study conducted by Soroka and McAdams found that negative news elicits stronger and more sustained reactions than does positive news, and much of the news surrounding COVI-19 is negative. Misinformation and fake news feeds on the fear that already surrounds the unraveling of a mysterious, damaging new public health phenomenon. Additionally, misinformation thrives where the public does not have a firm grasp on the nature of the situation.

A novel pandemic elicits uncertainty, worry, and desperation, so misinformation takes the place of rationality. This has led to the discussion of unproven medications as treatment for COVID, such as hydroxychloroquine—two related antimalarial drugs. Similarly, Ivermectin—a medication used to treat parasitic infections—was touted as a potential COVID-19 treatment in a preprint that used flawed statistical methodology. However, no legitimate scientific studies have been conducted to validate the safety and efficacy of these proposed treatments.

Vaccine Hesitancy

• A small group of individuals are responsible for the vast majority of COVID-19 misinformation.
• Vaccine-hesitant individuals tend to have beliefs about the vaccine that have been proven false.

Beyond a primal, psychological rationale, misinformation can be spread deliberately for political or social gain in the form of disinformation. Just twelve people are behind the bulk of the misleading and inaccurate claims about COVID vaccines on social media. These include prominent anti-vaccine activists and alternative health entrepreneurs and physicians. Feeding on the fear and desperation of the public, these figures find ways to profit. Most misinformation and disinformation that has circulated about COVID-19 vaccines has focused on vaccine development, safety, and effectiveness, as well as COVID-19 denialism. Reducing public confidence in a vaccine is extremely detrimental to public health, as 75% of a population needs to accept the vaccine in order to reach herd immunity.

Currently, only about 59% of Americans are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. According to a recent YouGov poll, 62% of vaccine rejectors believe that the vaccine causes infertility, and 69% believe it causes changes in a person’s DNA. Half of vaccine rejectors think the vaccine includes a microchip, and another half think vaccines have been shown to cause autism (YouGov). While these claims have been debunked, the deliberate spread of misinformation has contributed greatly to the barrier back to normal life.