Infodemic and Disinformation in the Pandemic: The role of fake news in the COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29327/2393773.1.18-4Keywords:
infodemic; disinformation; social media; pandemic; COVID-19.Abstract
Introduction: In parallel with the COVID-19 health pandemic, marked by restrictive population confinement measures and the expansion of digital connections, the infodemic emerged as an “epidemic of (mis)information in health,” spreading rapidly among a large portion of the global population. This study aimed to analyze the circulation of content related to the COVID-19 vaccination campaign among users of the Brazilian social network Facebook. Methodology: This is a netnographic, documentary, and descriptive study with a quantitative data appro Results: The evolution of searches for the vaccination campaign on Facebook revealed that interest in the vaccine coexisted with a decline in vaccination coverage. Of the 999 posts analyzed, 74% (n=739) were classified as misinformation, most of which originated from personal profiles. Additionally, 80% (n=799) of the posts expressed vaccine hesitancy, with anti-vaccine arguments present in 91.8% (n=909) of them. Conclusion: The impact of social media on communication and crisis management during health emergencies is highlighted, along with the need for studies that consider the perspective of social media users, especially on Facebook. The algorithmic classification of content may be linked to the interests of entities opposed to vaccination. This study contributes to the scientific community by assessing the engagement of posts related to COVID-19 immunization and emphasizes the importance of active positioning by health professionals in the face of vaccine hesitancy.
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