ABSTRACT

COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a surge in the amount of fake news circulating on the Internet. However, despite the global bearing of the coronavirus pandemic, there is a significant variance in the propensity of COVID-19 related fake news instances across nations. To better understand the national-level factors contributing to the spread of fake news during the current pandemic, we theorise and examine the relationships of “mobile connectivity” and “freedom” (economic, political, and media) in a nation, with fake news propensity. We test the proposed model through a unique dataset comprising 72 countries generated by combining 6 independent cross-country data sources. We find that “mobile connectivity” and “political freedom” in a nation contribute to COVID-19 related fake news propensity, whereas “economic” and “media freedom” inhibit it. Our study provides preliminary insights into the mechanisms through which national-level systemic resources can be leveraged for battling the spread of fake news during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. In addition, our study offers several important implications for governments and policymakers that we believe will be instrumental in stimulating future research on the subject.

摘要

COVID-19大流行引发了互联网上流传的虚假新闻数量激增。但是，尽管冠状病毒大流行在全球范围内受到影响，但在全国范围内，与COVID-19相关的虚假新闻实例的倾向仍存在显着差异。为了更好地了解在当前大流行期间导致假新闻传播的国家级因素，我们对假新闻在一个国家中的“移动连接”和“自由”（经济，政治和媒体）之间的关系进行了理论化和检验。倾向。我们通过一个由72个国家/地区组成的独特数据集来测试提出的模型，该数据集是通过组合6个独立的跨国数据源而产生的。我们发现，一个国家中的“移动连接”和“政治自由”助长了与COVID-19相关的虚假新闻倾向，而“经济”和“媒体自由”则抑制了这一趋势。我们的研究为在COVID-19大流行及以后期间可以利用国家级系统资源来对抗假新闻传播的机制提供了初步见解。此外，我们的研究为政府和政策制定者提供了一些重要的启示，我们认为这将有助于刺激有关该主题的未来研究。