Fake News and the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has witnessed an explosion in the spread of fake news. Belief in misinformation about the virus has been linked to reduced compliance with public health guidelines and less willingness to get vaccinated against the virus. Although fact-checking initiatives are useful, their reach and impact often remain limited once people have been exposed to a falsehood. Recently, social scientists have therefore begun to explore how to prevent fake news from going viral in the first place by building psychological resistance against it, an approach known as psychological “inoculation.” This chapter details the rich history of inoculation theory and its applications during the COVID-19 “infodemic.” The chapter shows how interventions such as a simple 5-minute browser game called Go Viral! can reduce people’s susceptibility to misinformation about COVID-19, improve people’s confidence in their ability to spot fake news, and reduce their willingness to share misinformation with others in their network. This chapter ends by summarizing lessons learned and exploring key open questions that surround social science research on fake news and misinformation.