COVID-19-Related Rumor Content, Transmission, and Clarification Strategies in China: Descriptive Study.

Item request has been placed! ×
Item request cannot be made. ×
loading   Processing Request
Connect Read More Add to Saved list
  • Additional Information
    • Source:
      Publisher: JMIR Publications Country of Publication: Canada NLM ID: 100959882 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1438-8871 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 14388871 NLM ISO Abbreviation: J Med Internet Res Subsets: MEDLINE
    • Publication Information:
      Publication: <2011- > : Toronto : JMIR Publications
      Original Publication: [Pittsburgh, PA? : s.n., 1999-
    • Subject Terms:
      COVID-19* ; Social Media*; China/epidemiology ; Humans ; Pandemics ; SARS-CoV-2
    • Abstract:
      Background: Given the permeation of social media throughout society, rumors spread faster than ever before, which significantly complicates government responses to public health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
      Objective: We aimed to examine the characteristics and propagation of rumors during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in China and evaluated the effectiveness of health authorities' release of correction announcements.
      Methods: We retrieved rumors widely circulating on social media in China during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and assessed the effectiveness of official government clarifications and popular science articles refuting those rumors.
      Results: We show that the number of rumors related to the COVID-19 pandemic fluctuated widely in China between December 1, 2019 and April 15, 2020. Rumors mainly occurred in 3 provinces: Hubei, Zhejiang, and Guangxi. Personal social media accounts constituted the major source of media reports of the 4 most widely distributed rumors (the novel coronavirus can be prevented with "Shuanghuanglian": 7648/10,664, 71.7%; the novel coronavirus is the SARS coronavirus: 14,696/15,902, 92.4%; medical supplies intended for assisting Hubei were detained by the local government: 3911/3943, 99.2%; asymptomatically infected persons were regarded as diagnosed COVID-19 patients with symptoms in official counts: 322/323, 99.7%). The number of rumors circulating was positively associated with the severity of the COVID-19 epidemic (ρ=0.88, 95% CI 0.81-0.93). The release of correction articles was associated with a substantial decrease in the proportion of rumor reports compared to accurate reports. The proportions of negative sentiments appearing among comments by citizens in response to media articles disseminating rumors and disseminating correct information differ insignificantly (both correct reports: χ 1 2 =0.315, P=.58; both rumors: χ 1 2 =0.025, P=.88; first rumor and last correct report: χ 1 2 =1.287, P=.26; first correct report and last rumor: χ 1 2 =0.033, P=.86).
      Conclusions: Our results highlight the importance and urgency of monitoring and correcting false or misleading reports on websites and personal social media accounts. The circulation of rumors can influence public health, and government bodies should establish guidelines to monitor and mitigate the negative impact of such rumors.
      (©Peishan Ning, Peixia Cheng, Jie Li, Ming Zheng, David C Schwebel, Yang Yang, Peng Lu, Li Mengdi, Zhuo Zhang, Guoqing Hu. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (https://www.jmir.org), 23.12.2021.)
    • References:
      Psychol Sci Public Interest. 2012 Dec;13(3):106-31. (PMID: 26173286)
      J Med Internet Res. 2020 May 26;22(5):e18796. (PMID: 32412414)
      Appl Math Comput. 2021 Jan 1;388:125536. (PMID: 32834190)
      Vaccine. 2015 Jan 9;33(3):459-64. (PMID: 25499651)
      Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 Apr 16;116(16):7662-7669. (PMID: 30642953)
      Nature. 2020 Apr;580(7803):306. (PMID: 32231320)
      Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2020 Oct;103(4):1621-1629. (PMID: 32783794)
      PLoS One. 2017 Jul 24;12(7):e0181821. (PMID: 28742163)
      BMC Public Health. 2020 Nov 4;20(1):1649. (PMID: 33148201)
      Lancet Infect Dis. 2021 May;21(5):e114. (PMID: 33031753)
      Chaos Solitons Fractals. 2020 Nov;140:110123. (PMID: 32834635)
      BMJ. 2020 Oct 6;371:m3878. (PMID: 33023874)
      BMC Res Notes. 2021 Nov 2;14(1):408. (PMID: 34727969)
      JAMA. 2020 May 19;323(19):1915-1923. (PMID: 32275295)
      Sci Rep. 2020 Jan 15;10(1):310. (PMID: 31941980)
    • Contributed Indexing:
      Keywords: COVID-19; China; rumor; social media; strategy
    • Publication Date:
      Date Created: 20211122 Date Completed: 20211227 Latest Revision: 20220111
    • Publication Date:
      20240628
    • Accession Number:
      PMC8709421
    • Accession Number:
      10.2196/27339
    • Accession Number:
      34806992