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This document discusses the proliferation of misinformation related to COVID-19 on social media and its potential negative impacts. It notes that while social media has become a major source of health information, it also spreads misinformation about COVID-19 at an alarming rate. This misinformation can have serious public health consequences, such as undermining official health guidance, inducing the unsafe use of unproven treatments, and increasing stress and anxiety during the pandemic. The document presents a conceptual framework for examining the effects of COVID-19 misinformation on individual responses and ways to build resilience against misinformation through credibility evaluations.

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Though the year “2020”, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is called “super year”

for environmental sustainability [20], the year is posing a massive global

health threat as well as extreme socioeconomic damage. Its global impact on
lives and livelihoods is beyond measure as the fight against the COVID-19 is
continuing [50]. The public across the world has recognized the severe
damaging magnitudes of COVID 19 due to the fast communication and
publication [73]. However, the world's first social media pandemic COVID-19
[31], a massive disaster in the 21st century, is not immune to the proliferation
of misinformation [58]. Director-General of the World Health Organization
(WHO) declared that the COVID-19 epidemic is going through an ‘infodemic’
(shorthand for information epidemic) of misinformation [77]. On March 28,
in line with WHO, Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of United Nation,
tweet that “Our common enemy is COVID19, but our enemy is also an
‘infodemic’ of misinformation” on his personal Twitter account [71]. Besides,
researchers also noted that the medical misinformation content pertaining to
the COVID-19 pandemic is being proliferated at a frightening rate on social
media [27,42]. By referring WHO, Shaw et al. [62] mentioned that there will
be a tsunami of information on social media. Further, Brennen et al. [12]
orated that misinformation pertaining to the global health crisis COVID-19
pandemic generates a severe risk to public health.
The internet has become the greatest source of health information worldwide
due to the use of a huge number of mobile devices and easy and low-cost
connectivity with the internet across the world. Barua et al. [5] stated that
internet technologies are becoming inexpensive and easy to access. Statista
[66] reported that the global mobile population surpasses 4 billion unique
users, according to April 2019 data, and as of February 2019, there was global
48% of web page views through mobile devices, and, Asia and Africa leading
the pack. Li et al. [44] noted that over 70% of adults use internet services for
searching healthcare-related information. Wang et al. [85] reported that
93.5% of the general public in China used the internet as the primary health
care information conduit during the initial stage of COVID-19 pandemic. Li et
al. [44] reported that approximately 23%–26% of YouTube videos were
misleading, i.e. involved in disseminating misinformation regarding COVID-
19. On the other hand, another popular social networking site, Facebook,
reported that during the March and April of 2020 the body placed warning
labels on approximately 90 million pieces of content because they are allied to
the Covid-19 misinformation like false cures, anti-vaccination propaganda and
conspiracy theories [7]. BBC also reported that the human cost of
misinformation could be huge since it undermines the public health
messaging [7]. Researchers [36,38,45,63] noted that it can intensify racism,
fear, and stigma and produce unconstructive and threatening behavior.
Because of fear, the public shows an unusual pattern of shopping behavior in
purchasing personal protective equipment [1]. Chou et al. [13] opined that
health misinformation on social media can induce people to use toxic
substances. Zandifar & Badrfam [88] suggested that misinformation along
with other players regarding COVID-19 can contribute to stress and mental
morbidity. Rajkumar [56] and Xiao and Torok [86] suggested that amid an
infectious disease pandemic, inaccurate or misinformation or exaggerated
information can generate health anxiety. In addition, the misinformation
effect is also associated with buying and taking drugs without a medical
consultant's prescription [16]. Misinformation in different media including
social media, therefore, can have a death-and-life threatening effect amid a
pandemic. For instance, a resident of Phoenix in the USA, hearing on the news
that the chloroquine can cure COVID-19, died after consuming chloroquine
which was commonly used at aquariums to clean fish tanks [84].
This misinformation about COVID-19 is generating in many forms, such as
conspiracy theories which convey the virus being produced in a laboratory for
use as a biological weapon [53]; religious fundamentalist who spread
misinformation in the way that praying to the almighty will help not to be
affected by COVID-19. The religions can play dual roles amid pandemic as
constructive and detrimental [21]. Researchers noted that developing a theory
for the pathways of the effects of misinformation on public health would
greatly help to understand the mitigation of adverse consequences of
misinformation [68]. Further, in search of solution about misinformation
regarding COVID-19 pandemic on social media conduit, Dr. Mike Ryan,
Executive Director of WHO's Health Emergencies Programme said that ‘we
need a vaccine against misinformation,’ [78], and he also urges social science
researchers to come forward in this regard. Consequently, this study
developed a conceptual framework to empirically examine the effects of
misinformation on COVID-19 individual responses and how to resilience it
conjoining the stimulus-response theory (hypodermic needle theory) and the
resilience theory. As the stimulus, this study has considered general
misinformation belief, conspiracy belief, and religious misinformation belief;
and as resilience strategy, credibility evaluations. The authors hope that the
findings of this study and applicable recommendations will work as good
ground to mitigate the disaster of misinformation.
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. The next section presents
the literature review relevant to misinformation, COVID-19, individual
responses. Section 3 offers the conceptual framework and proposes the
relevant research hypotheses based on the literature. Section 4 and 5
delineates the research method followed to conduct the research and data
analysis along with results respectively. Section 6 demarcates the discussion
and recommendations for policy development. Finally, limitations and
anticipated research paths are placed in the last section of the paper
2. The literature on misinformation, COVID-19 and
individual responses
2.1. Misinformation definition

“Misinformation” is defined in several ways [61,64,76]. Misinformation, according to Scheufele

and Krause [61], is incorrect information, the probable outcome of an accident. On the other
hand, Wardle and Derakhshan [76] noted that false information which is being shared
unconsciously (not knowing that the information is whether correct or not) and without any
purpose to make harm to anyone is called misinformation; on the other side, disinformation is
false information and shared consciously to make harm intentionally [76]. Additionally, the
previous authors also defined mal-information; which is authentic private information shared
with the public to cause harm by creating hate speech and harassment. Further, in a more specific
manner, Chou et al. [13] defined health misinformation as “health-related claims of fact that is
currently false due to a lack of scientific evidence”. For this study purposes, however, the authors
considered “misinformation” as a “mother-term” of both (mis and dis) –(i) inaccurate
information shared unconsciously by believing that the information is true, and –(ii) inaccurate
information shared consciously. Hence, in its place, considering the study of Krause et al. [43],
we conceived that the misinformation is false information that can be challenged with the best-
available evidence pertaining to the COVID-19. Therefore, the current study considered
‘misinformation’ as ‘umbrella term’ of general misinformation belief, conspiracy belief, and
religious misinformation belief.

2.2. COVID-19 and individual responses

The Novel Coronavirus 2019 first appeared in Wuhan, China at the end of the year 2019, now
spread almost all the corners of the globe and cause to death of 369,274 lives globally so far as
on May 31, 2020 [41]. The virus exactly responsible for COVID-19 is known as “severe acute
respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)”. On March 11, 2020, by observing the rapid
escalation and severity of COVID-19, WHO declared COVID-19 as pandemic [79]. The impact
of COVID-19 is unprecedented and, indeed, the world is not going back to its regular life very
soon.
In today's modern media ecosystem, social media is considered as a noteworthy passage for
information [52]. Most of the public shows their responses based on the information received via
social media, and misinformation on social media can generate disastrous responses from the
individual public. Unfortunately, social media does not always share correct information.
Brennen et al. [12] pronounced that misinformation related to the pandemic produces deleterious
effects on public health and action. Further, numerous researchers orated that social media is
liable for proliferating misinformation about health or COVID-19 [27,59]. This is a matter of
great sorrow in this unprecedented global crisis moment, because, albeit some countries reported
the use of medicines with no proper confirmation [62], still there is no vaccine for the COVID-
19 as of May 31, 2020; and preventive measures are considered as the best weapons to fight
against COVID-19.
Individual responses, however, regarding the COVID-19 is influenced by the information they
received through different media. As mentioned before, the person who died in the USA after
consuming chloroquine could be said that he was largely influenced by the message that
chloroquine can cure COVID-19. Like this, a huge amount of misinformation is floating in the
air. Consequently, public responses in an unfavorable way and incur detrimental consequences.
Further, as individual responses, people may not follow the guidelines provided by recognized
national and international health organizations because of their ignorance, especially in the
developing and under-developed countries for many reasons. For instance, an Imam of a mosque
in Dhaka city (Capital of Bangladesh) was encouraging believers to visit mosques by
pronouncing that ‘we enter into a mosque by cleaning ourselves, so there is no possibility that
coronavirus will attack us’ [6]. The public might, therefore, be abstained from wearing a face
mask, washing hands with a regular interval, maintaining social distance and isolation, and can
even join in a crowd like participation in prayer.

3.3. Conspiracy beliefs

Some conspiracies have been spread about COVID-19 just after its appearance
to the world. For example, the international level conspiracy is ‘the virus being
a biological weapon, created either by the US (to destroy Chinese) or China (to
destroy Americans)’. But there are national and local level conspiracies too,
which can have direct impacts on the behavior of the general public.
Government and government-owned organizations can conceal true
information from the public to not to lose their present political position and
given chair. For example, the current Health Minister of Bangladesh said that
“I don't think that COVID-19 is a dangerous disease” [22]. The reason behind
that kind of statement of a high official in Bangladesh is might be to keep the
economy alive. It also might be happening that those kinds of statements lead
the public to respond poorly against COVID-19. Thus, the study offers the next
hypothesis as follows: