Americans Most Likely to Share Covid-19 Fake Information
Topic: Americas
Author: Simon Fraser University
Published: 2022/11/08 - Updated: 2024/05/12
Publication Type: Findings - Peer-Reviewed: Yes
Contents: Summary - Definition - Introduction - Main - Related
Synopsis: Americans are considerably more likely to share theories to promote or show support for them and use it as a way to connect with others. Those who identified as conservative and those that trusted the Trump government were more likely to share misinformation online. In Canada, the survey found that the number one reason people shared conspiracy theories online was for people to be aware of them, and the second-most common reason was to criticize them.
Introduction
People living in the United States are more than three times more likely to share misinformation and conspiracy theories about COVID-19 than people in four other English-speaking countries, including Canada, a Simon Fraser University study has found.
When the entire world stopped in early 2020 due to the pandemic, researchers were presented with a rare opportunity to study the sharing of the same conspiracy theories and other misinformation across multiple countries.
Main Digest
SFU political science professor Mark Pickup, along with colleagues from Colorado State University and McMaster University, focused on five Western, English-speaking democracies: the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.
Researchers found that people in the U.S. were no more likely to report seeing misinformation than people living in any of the other countries but were three times more likely to share these theories with their followers.
"America is an outlier. Our findings are consistent with recent work about the outsized role that Americans play in sharing misinformation on social media," Pickup says.
According to the study, published in the Journal of Quantitative Description: Digital Media, there are a few reasons why Americans stand out from the other countries.
While people in other countries self-reported that they shared misinformation to make other aware of them or to criticize them, Americans are considerably more likely to share theories to promote or show support for them and use it as a way to connect with others.
The polarized political landscape of the U.S., which also played out in debates about COVID-19, also correlated with the sharing of misinformation. Those who identified as conservative and those that trusted the Trump government were more likely to share misinformation online.
In all countries, those who have populist attitudes and distrust health officials were more likely to share misinformation than those who do not.
In Canada, the survey found that the number one reason people shared conspiracy theories online was for people to be aware of them and the second-most common reason was to criticize them.
Facebook was the most common platform for sharing misinformation, accounting for more than half of those sharing misinformation in each country.
The results are based on their study of thousands of nationally-representative surveys conducted in each country in July 2020 and January 2021.
Research Tracks Spread of America's Linguistic Epidemic: Many studies merely observe internet activities without tying them to real-world actions. However, there's a clear method to bridge online behavior with offline choices.
Attribution/Source(s):
This peer reviewed publication was selected for publishing by the editors of Disabled World due to its significant relevance to the disability community. Originally authored by Simon Fraser University, and published on 2022/11/08 (Edit Update: 2024/05/12), the content may have been edited for style, clarity, or brevity. For further details or clarifications, Simon Fraser University can be contacted at sfu.ca. NOTE: Disabled World does not provide any warranties or endorsements related to this article.
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Cite This Page (APA): Simon Fraser University. (2022, November 8 - Last revised: 2024, May 12). Americans Most Likely to Share Covid-19 Fake Information. Disabled World. Retrieved September 8, 2024 from www.disabled-world.com/news/america/americans.php
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