Perception of misinformation on social media among Chinese college students.

Background: Chinese college students predominantly use social media applications to collect information, communicate with each other, advance their education, and go shopping. Research has highlighted the spread of misinformation or fake news on social media, and this has affected college students negatively as they are the most frequent users of social media. Objective: This research aims to investigate Chinese college students' perceptions of misinformation on social media, including their views on the consequences of misinformation, insights into the reasons for its dissemination, how misinformation impacts their mental health, and their perspectives on how to control misinformation. Methods: This study followed a qualitative approach, selecting 36 participants from 12 universities in China, collecting data through semi-structured interviews, and analyzing the data to enable thematic analysis. Results: Chinese college students are aware of the adverse impact of spreading misinformation on social media. They believe that false information is disseminated primarily due to inadequate punishment for those who intentionally spread it. Most college students lack proficiency in identifying misinformation, and they expect the government to do more to control the misinformation phenomenon. Moreover, misinformation on social media may cause Chinese college students to feel dysphoric, angry, and even depressed, thereby affecting their mental health. This research indicates that the public and government should make efforts to address the misinformation phenomenon in order to protect college students from being harmed.

A Serious Game ("Fight With Virus") for Preventing COVID-19 Health Rumors: Development and Experimental Study.

BACKGROUND: Health rumors arbitrarily spread in mainstream social media on the internet. Health rumors emerged in China during the outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020. Many midelders/elders (age over 40 years) who lived in Wuhan believed these rumors. OBJECTIVE: This study focused on designing a serious game as an experimental program to prevent and control health rumors. The focus of the study was explicitly on the context of the social networking service for midelders/elders. METHODS: This research involved 2 major parts: adopting the Transmission Control Protocol model for games and then, based on the model, designing a game named "Fight With Virus" as an experimental platform and developing a cognitive questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale. The relevant variables for this experimental study were defined, and 10 hypotheses were proposed and tested with an empirical study. In total, 200 participants were selected for the experiments. By collecting relevant data in the experiments, we conducted statistical observations and comparative analysis to test whether the experimental hypotheses could be proved. RESULTS: We noted that compared to traditional media, serious games are more capable of inspiring interest in research participants toward their understanding of the knowledge and learning of health commonsense. In judging and recognizing the COVID-19 health rumor, the test group that used game education had a stronger ability regarding identification of the rumor and a higher accuracy rate of identification. Results showed that the more educated midelders/elders are, the more effective they are at using serious games. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to traditional media, serious games can effectively improve midelders'/elders' cognitive abilities while they face a health rumor. The gameplay effect is related to the individual's age and educational background, while income and gender have no impact.

Confidence as a metacognitive contributor to and consequence of misinformation experiences.

Exposures to inaccurate information can lead people to become confused about what is true, to doubt their understandings, and to rely on the ideas later. Recent work has begun to investigate the role of metacognition in these effects. We review research foregrounding confidence as an exemplar metacognitive contributor to misinformation experiences. Miscalibrations between confidence about what one knows, and the actual knowledge one possesses, can help explain why people might hold fast to misinformed beliefs even in the face of counterevidence. Miscalibrations can also emerge after brief exposures to new misinformation, allowing even obvious inaccuracies to influence subsequent performance. Evidence additionally suggests confidence may present a useful target for intervention, helping to encourage careful evaluation under the right conditions.

I know It's false, but I keep thinking as if it were true: A replication study of Johnson and Seifert's (1994) continued influence effect.

False Information (FI) is a critical societal issue, made even more pressing by our inability to mitigate its influence through correction. Researchers Johnson and Seifert (1994, Experiment 1A) penned a seminal paper on this "Continued Influence Effect" (CIE), which they observed in English-speaking participants. In their experiments, one group read a text containing FI that was later retracted (FI group), while another read the same text without FI (control group). Interestingly, even after receiving corrections, participants who read the FI were more likely than their peers to form FI-related inferences about the text. To the best of our knowledge, this finding has never been successfully directly replicated. Given the current replicability crisis plaguing the human sciences, the influence of culture on CIE and the importance of Johnson and Seifert's paradigm in this literature, the reassessment of their findings within a non-English-speaking population appears crucial. The present research investigated the direct replicability of their study with a French-speaking sample, comparing the inferences drawn by an FI group (n = 21) to those made by a control group (n = 23). The results confirm those of the original study, supporting the validity of Johnson and Seifert's paradigm (1994) and extending its applicability to a French-speaking population.

Influence of Tweets Indicating False Rumors on COVID-19 Vaccination: Case Study.

BACKGROUND: As of December 2022, the outbreak of COVID-19 showed no sign of abating, continuing to impact people's lives, livelihoods, economies, and more. Vaccination is an effective way to achieve mass immunity. However, in places such as Japan, where vaccination is voluntary, there are people who choose not to receive the vaccine, even if an effective vaccine is offered. To promote vaccination, it is necessary to clarify what kind of information on social media can influence attitudes toward vaccines. OBJECTIVE: False rumors and counterrumors are often posted and spread in large numbers on social media, especially during emergencies. In this paper, we regard tweets that contain questions or point out errors in information as counterrumors. We analyze counterrumors tweets related to the COVID-19 vaccine on Twitter. We aimed to answer the following questions: (1) what kinds of COVID-19 vaccine-related counterrumors were posted on Twitter, and (2) are the posted counterrumors related to social conditions such as vaccination status? METHODS: We use the following data sets: (1) counterrumors automatically collected by the "rumor cloud" (18,593 tweets); and (2) the number of COVID-19 vaccine inoculators from September 27, 2021, to August 15, 2022, published on the Prime Minister's Office's website. First, we classified the contents contained in counterrumors. Second, we counted the number of COVID-19 vaccine-related counterrumors from data set 1. Then, we examined the cross-correlation coefficients between the numbers of data sets 1 and 2. Through this verification, we examined the correlation coefficients for the following three periods: (1) the same period of data; (2) the case where the occurrence of the suggestion of counterrumors precedes the vaccination (negative time lag); and (3) the case where the vaccination precedes the occurrence of counterrumors (positive time lag). The data period used for the validation was from October 4, 2021, to April 18, 2022. RESULTS: Our classification results showed that most counterrumors about the COVID-19 vaccine were negative. Moreover, the correlation coefficients between the number of counterrumors and vaccine inoculators showed significant and strong positive correlations. The correlation coefficient was over 0.7 at -8, -7, and -1 weeks of lag. Results suggest that the number of vaccine inoculators tended to increase with an increase in the number of counterrumors. Significant correlation coefficients of 0.5 to 0.6 were observed for lags of 1 week or more and 2 weeks or more. This implies that an increase in vaccine inoculators increases the number of counterrumors. These results suggest that the increase in the number of counterrumors may have been a factor in inducing vaccination behavior. CONCLUSIONS: Using quantitative data, we were able to reveal how counterrumors influence the vaccination status of the COVID-19 vaccine. We think that our findings would be a foundation for considering countermeasures of vaccination.

Content Quality of YouTube Videos About Metastatic Breast Cancer in Young Women: Systematic Assessment.

BACKGROUND: Young women with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) are part of a digitally connected generation yet are underserved in terms of information needs. YouTube is widely used to find and identify health information. The accessibility of health-related content on social media together with the rare and marginalized experiences of young women with MBC and the digital media practices of younger generations imply a considerable likelihood that young women with MBC will seek information and community on the internet. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to assess the content quality of MBC YouTube videos and to identify themes in the experiences of young women with MBC based on YouTube videos. METHODS: A systematic assessment of MBC YouTube videos using the search term "metastatic breast cancer young" was conducted in August 2021. The search was performed in an incognito browser and with no associated YouTube or Google account. Search results were placed in order from most to least views. Title, date uploaded, length, poster identity, number of likes, and number of comments were collected. Understandability and actionability were assessed using the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT); information reliability and quality were assessed with DISCERN. Themes, sponsorships, and health care professionals' and patients' narratives were reported. RESULTS: A total of 101 videos were identified. Of these, 78.2% (n=79) included sponsorships. The mean PEMAT scores were 78.8% (SD 15.3%) and 43.1% (SD 45.2%) for understandability and actionability, respectively. The mean DISCERN score was 2.44 (SD 0.7) out of 5. Identified themes included treatment (n=67, 66.3%), family relationship (n=46, 45.5%), and motherhood (n=38, 37.6%). CONCLUSIONS: YouTube videos about young women with MBC are highly understandable but demonstrate moderate rates of actionability, with low reliability and quality scores. Many have a commercial bias. While web-based materials have limitations, their potential to provide patient support is not fully developed. By acknowledging their patients' media habits, health care professionals can further develop a trusting bond with their patients, provide a space for open and honest discussions of web-based materials, and avoid any potential instances of confusion caused by misleading, inaccurate, or false web-based materials.

Bot or Not? Detecting and Managing Participant Deception When Conducting Digital Research Remotely: Case Study of a Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Evaluating digital interventions using remote methods enables the recruitment of large numbers of participants relatively conveniently and cheaply compared with in-person methods. However, conducting research remotely based on participant self-report with little verification is open to automated "bots" and participant deception. OBJECTIVE: This paper uses a case study of a remotely conducted trial of an alcohol reduction app to highlight and discuss (1) the issues with participant deception affecting remote research trials with financial compensation; and (2) the importance of rigorous data management to detect and address these issues. METHODS: We recruited participants on the internet from July 2020 to March 2022 for a randomized controlled trial (n=5602) evaluating the effectiveness of an alcohol reduction app, Drink Less. Follow-up occurred at 3 time points, with financial compensation offered (up to £36 [US $39.23]). Address authentication and telephone verification were used to detect 2 kinds of deception: "bots," that is, automated responses generated in clusters; and manual participant deception, that is, participants providing false information. RESULTS: Of the 1142 participants who enrolled in the first 2 months of recruitment, 75.6% (n=863) of them were identified as bots during data screening. As a result, a CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart) was added, and after this, no more bots were identified. Manual participant deception occurred throughout the study. Of the 5956 participants (excluding bots) who enrolled in the study, 298 (5%) were identified as false participants. The extent of this decreased from 110 in November 2020, to a negligible level by February 2022 including a number of months with 0. The decline occurred after we added further screening questions such as attention checks, removed the prominence of financial compensation from social media advertising, and added an additional requirement to provide a mobile phone number for identity verification. CONCLUSIONS: Data management protocols are necessary to detect automated bots and manual participant deception in remotely conducted trials. Bots and manual deception can be minimized by adding a CAPTCHA, attention checks, a requirement to provide a phone number for identity verification, and not prominently advertising financial compensation on social media. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN Number ISRCTN64052601; https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN64052601.

Exposure and Reactions to Cancer Treatment Misinformation and Advice: Survey Study.

BACKGROUND: Cancer treatment misinformation, or false claims about alternative cures, often spreads faster and farther than true information on social media. Cancer treatment misinformation can harm the psychosocial and physical health of individuals with cancer and their cancer care networks by causing distress and encouraging people to abandon support, potentially leading to deviations from evidence-based care. There is a pressing need to understand how cancer treatment misinformation is shared and uncover ways to reduce misinformation. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to better understand exposure and reactions to cancer treatment misinformation, including the willingness of study participants to prosocially intervene and their intentions to share Instagram posts with cancer treatment misinformation. METHODS: We conducted a survey on cancer treatment misinformation among US adults in December 2021. Participants reported their exposure and reactions to cancer treatment misinformation generally (saw or heard, source, type of advice, and curiosity) and specifically on social media (platform, believability). Participants were then randomly assigned to view 1 of 3 cancer treatment misinformation posts or an information post and asked to report their willingness to prosocially intervene and their intentions to share. RESULTS: Among US adult participants (N=603; mean age 46, SD 18.83 years), including those with cancer and cancer caregivers, almost 1 in 4 (142/603, 23.5%) received advice about alternative ways to treat or cure cancer. Advice was primarily shared through family (39.4%) and friends (37.3%) for digestive (30.3%) and natural (14.1%) alternative cancer treatments, which generated curiosity among most recipients (106/142, 74.6%). More than half of participants (337/603, 55.9%) saw any cancer treatment misinformation on social media, with significantly higher exposure for those with cancer (53/109, 70.6%) than for those without cancer (89/494, 52.6%; P<.001). Participants saw cancer misinformation on Facebook (39.8%), YouTube (27%), Instagram (22.1%), and TikTok (14.1%), among other platforms. Participants (429/603, 71.1%) thought cancer treatment misinformation was true, at least sometimes, on social media. More than half (357/603, 59.2%) were likely to share any cancer misinformation posts shown. Many participants (412/603, 68.3%) were willing to prosocially intervene for any cancer misinformation posts, including flagging the cancer treatment misinformation posts as false (49.7%-51.4%) or reporting them to the platform (48.1%-51.4%). Among the participants, individuals with cancer and those who identified as Black or Hispanic reported greater willingness to intervene to reduce cancer misinformation but also higher intentions to share misinformation. CONCLUSIONS: Cancer treatment misinformation reaches US adults through social media, including on widely used platforms for support. Many believe that social media posts about alternative cancer treatment are true at least some of the time. The willingness of US adults, including those with cancer and members of susceptible populations, to prosocially intervene could initiate the necessary community action to reduce cancer treatment misinformation if coupled with strategies to help individuals discern false claims.

It is double pleasure to deceive the deceiver: Machiavellianism is associated with producing but not necessarily with falling for bullshit.

Machiavellianism is a personality trait emphasizing fraud at others' expense. It is yet unclear whether Machiavellianism is also predictive of less obvious deception, for example inaccurate or meaningless information supposed to gain advantages and to avoid disadvantages (i.e., bullshit). Similarly, it is unclear whether those high in Machiavellianism can recognize bullshit claims and valuable information as such (i.e., bullshit sensitivity). In this study, we investigated whether different facets of Machiavellianism are prone to the production of different sorts of bullshit and how these facets of Machiavellianism relate to bullshit sensitivity. In a sample of 525 participants (72% women), we found that the manipulative side of Machiavellianism (Machiavellian approach) was linked to persuasive bullshitting, that is, the production of bullshit intended to gain desired resources. Likewise, the distrustful side of Machiavellianism (Machiavellian avoidance) went along with higher evasive bullshitting, which means spreading information that ought to prevent individual disadvantages. Next, we found that those high in Machiavellian avoidance, but not Machiavellian approach, were better at differentiating information from bullshit. These links were robust irrespective of different levels of cognitive ability. Ultimately, we discussed future directions for research on bullshitting and disseminating deceptive information in general.

Research on false information clarification mechanism among government, opinion leaders, and Internet users - Based on differential game theory.

This article considers the government, opinion leaders, and Internet users to be a system for correcting false information, and it considers the problem of correcting false information that arises in the aftermath of major emergencies. We use optimal control theory and differential game theory to construct differential game models of decentralized decision-making, centralized decision-making, and subsidized decision-making. The solutions to these models and their numerical simulations show that the government, opinion leaders, and Internet users exercise cost-subsidized decision-making instead of decentralized decision-making. The equilibrium strategies, local optimal benefits, and overall optimal benefits of the system achieve Pareto improvement. Given the goal of maximizing the benefits to the system under centralized decision-making, the equilibrium results are Pareto-optimal. The research here provides a theoretical basis for dealing with the mechanism of correcting false information arising from major emergencies, and our conclusions provide methodological support for the government to effectively deal with such scenarios.

Data Exploration and Classification of News Article Reliability: Deep Learning Study.

Background: During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we are being exposed to large amounts of information each day. This "infodemic" is defined by the World Health Organization as the mass spread of misleading or false information during a pandemic. This spread of misinformation during the infodemic ultimately leads to misunderstandings of public health orders or direct opposition against public policies. Although there have been efforts to combat misinformation spread, current manual fact-checking methods are insufficient to combat the infodemic. Objective: We propose the use of natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) techniques to build a model that can be used to identify unreliable news articles online. Methods: First, we preprocessed the ReCOVery data set to obtain 2029 English news articles tagged with COVID-19 keywords from January to May 2020, which are labeled as reliable or unreliable. Data exploration was conducted to determine major differences between reliable and unreliable articles. We built an ensemble deep learning model using the body text, as well as features, such as sentiment, Empath-derived lexical categories, and readability, to classify the reliability. Results: We found that reliable news articles have a higher proportion of neutral sentiment, while unreliable articles have a higher proportion of negative sentiment. Additionally, our analysis demonstrated that reliable articles are easier to read than unreliable articles, in addition to having different lexical categories and keywords. Our new model was evaluated to achieve the following performance metrics: 0.906 area under the curve (AUC), 0.835 specificity, and 0.945 sensitivity. These values are above the baseline performance of the original ReCOVery model. Conclusions: This paper identified novel differences between reliable and unreliable news articles; moreover, the model was trained using state-of-the-art deep learning techniques. We aim to be able to use our findings to help researchers and the public audience more easily identify false information and unreliable media in their everyday lives.

Evaluative mindsets can protect against the influence of false information.

People are exposed to inaccurate claims and ideas every day from sources intended to inform, entertain, or do both. A large body of research has demonstrated that exposures to inaccurate statements, even when conveying obviously false ideas, can affect people's subsequent judgments. Contemporary accounts suggest that these effects may be due to people's failure to evaluate information during exposure, increasing the likelihood that false information will be encoded and available for retrieval on subsequent tasks. In three experiments, we investigated whether evaluative mindsets reduce the likelihood people are influenced by and use inaccurate statements, as well as encourage reliance on accurate understandings. In Experiment 1, participants who were instructed to engage in deliberate evaluation of potentially inaccurate statements reproduced fewer inaccurate ideas and produced more correct answers to post-reading questions than did participants who simply rated their interest in the statements. In Experiments 2 and 3, the same benefits were obtained even when participants were not consistently prompted to evaluate the statements. These results offer insight into when and how evaluation can encourage participants to rely on correct prior knowledge over presented inaccuracies, as well as what is required to establish and maintain such an evaluative mindset.

Evaluating Rumor Debunking Effectiveness During the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis: Utilizing User Stance in Comments on Sina Weibo.

Background: The spread of rumors related to COVID-19 on social media has posed substantial challenges to public health governance, and thus exposing rumors and curbing their spread quickly and effectively has become an urgent task. This study aimed to assist in formulating effective strategies to debunk rumors and curb their spread on social media. Methods: A total of 2,053 original postings and 100,348 comments that replied to the postings of five false rumors related to COVID-19 (dated from January 20, 2020, to June 28, 2020) belonging to three categories, authoritative, social, and political, on Sina Weibo in China were randomly selected. To study the effectiveness of different debunking methods, a new annotation scheme was proposed that divides debunking methods into six categories: denial, further fact-checking, refutation, person response, organization response, and combination methods. Text classifiers using deep learning methods were built to automatically identify four user stances in comments that replied to debunking postings: supporting, denying, querying, and commenting stances. Then, based on stance responses, a debunking effectiveness index (DEI) was developed to measure the effectiveness of different debunking methods. Results: The refutation method with cited evidence has the best debunking effect, whether used alone or in combination with other debunking methods. For the social category of Car rumor and political category of Russia rumor, using the refutation method alone can achieve the optimal debunking effect. For authoritative rumors, a combination method has the optimal debunking effect, but the most effective combination method requires avoiding the use of a combination of a debunking method where the person or organization defamed by the authoritative rumor responds personally and the refutation method. Conclusion: The findings provide relevant insights into ways to debunk rumors effectively, support crisis management of false information, and take necessary actions in response to rumors amid public health emergencies.

Public Emotional and Coping Responses to the COVID-19 Infodemic: A Review and Recommendations.

Since its onset in early 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has adversely affected not only the physical but also the mental health of people worldwide. Healthcare professionals and laypersons have sought to learn more about this novel and highly transmissible disease to better understand its etiology, treatment, and prevention. However, information overload and misinformation related to COVID-19 have elicited considerable public anxiety and created additional health threats. Collectively, these problems have been recognized by the World Health Organization as an "infodemic." This review provides an overview of the global challenges posed by the COVID-19 infodemic, and used the psychological entropy model as a guiding framework to explicate the potential causes of the infodemic and identify potential solutions to mitigate impacts on public health. We first examine the role of anxiety in information processing and then delineate the adverse impacts of the infodemic. Finally, we propose strategies to combat the infodemic at the public, community, and individual levels.

Categorias das fake news sobre COVID-19 disseminadas no primeiro ano da pandemia no Brasil / Categories of fake news about COVID-19 disseminated in the first year of the pandemic in Brazil

Objetivou-se analisar as notícias falsas sobre COVID-19 disseminadas no Brasil, durante o primeiro ano da pandemia no país. Estudo do tipo documental, cujo material de investigação foi composto pelas fake news inseridas na Plataforma Coronaverificado.news até o dia 27 de fevereiro de 2021, totalizando 938 notícias, que foram submetidas ao software IRaMuTeQ, resultando na Classificação Hierárquica Descendente e possibilitando a clarificação de quatro categorias temáticas, analisadas com apoio teórico-metodológico da Hermenêutica-dialética. Os resultados revelaram as redes sociais como os veículos mais utilizados para envio das notícias falsas (n=625; 66,6%), cujos conteúdos foram predominantemente textos (n=488; 52%). Na categorização dos assuntos, "Governo e autoridades" foi a categoria que concentrou os conteúdos mais disseminados (56,6%), seguida de "Desenvolvimento e aplicação de vacinas" (14,8%), desvelando a multifacetada abrangência e intenção das fake news, que confundem a população e instigam a adesão às práticas não seguras. É indispensável que os meios de comunicação social funcionem como veículo de conteúdos científicos e técnicos fidedignos acerca das ações de enfrentamento da COVID-19, pois a comunicação verdadeira associada ao compromisso ético dos governantes contribuirá para diminuir o risco de comportamento inadequado das pessoas, auxiliando a adoção consciente de medidas que promovam a saúde global, no contexto pandêmico e pós-pandêmico.

The objective of this study was to analyze the false news about COVID-19 disseminated in Brazil during the first year of the pandemic in the country. This was a documentary type study, which investigated the fake news inserted in the Coronaverificado.news platform until February 27, 2021, totaling 938 news items, which were submitted to the IRaMuTeQ software, resulting in the Descending Hierarchical Classification. This enabled the clarification of four thematic categories analyzed with theoretical and methodological support from Hermeneutics-dialectics. The results revealed social networks as the most used vehicles for sending fake news (n=625; 66.6%), whose contents were predominantly texts (n=488; 52%). In the categorization of subjects, "Government and authorities" was the category that concentrated the most widespread subjects (56.6%), followed by "Development and application of vaccines" (14.8%), revealing the multifaceted scope and intention of the fake news items, which confuse the population and encourage adherence to unsafe practices. It is essential that the mass media function as a vehicle for reliable scientific and technical content about COVID-19's coping actions, since true communication associated with the ethical commitment of government officials will help to reduce the risk of people's inappropriate behavior, aiding the conscious adoption of measures that promote overall health in the pandemic and post-pandemic context.

Fake news: as consequências negativas para a saúde da população / Fake news: the negative consequences for population's health / Noticias falsas: las consecuencias negativas para la salud de la población

As fakes news e notícias verdadeiras envolvendo aspectos da saúde da população estão sendo constantemente reproduzidas em redes sociais, como o Facebook, ou aplicativos de mensagens, como o WhatsApp. No entanto, essas mensagens são, em sua maioria, falsas, podendo prejudicar a saúde da população, interromper terapia medicamentosa, promover supostas medidas curativas e causar efeitos adversos. Parte da população brasileira tem acreditado nessas mensagens, e às vezes, mesmo em dúvida quanto à veracidade dos conteúdos, retransmitem para seus contatos, que adotam a mesma prática e contribuem para que a desinformação atinja grande parte da população. Nesse sentido, esta pesquisa tem como objetivo realizar o levantamento de notícias que se disseminaram nas redes sociais e foram classificadas pelo site do Ministério da Saúde como verdadeiras ou falsas, e avaliar as consequências negativas para a população da reprodução das fake news identificadas. Procedeu-se um levantamento bibliográfico sobre a temática, com foco nas informações encontradas no site do Ministério da Saúde. A análise de conteúdo ajudou na exploração qualitativa das 69 mensagens e informações de saúde referentes principalmente ao coronavírus. Portanto, esta pesquisa colabora na divulgação de uma situação irresponsável, que vem ocorrendo com mais frequência depois da popularização das tecnologias de informação.

Fake news and real messages, involving aspects of the population's health, are being a constant in social networks such as Facebook and WhatsApp. However, these messages are mostly fake, which can harm the health of the population, interrupt drug therapy or have no effect. The Brazilian population has believed in these messages, and sometimes, even in doubt, they pass them on to their contacts, thus contributing to the messages reaching a large part of the population. In this sense, this study aims at surveying fake news on the Brazilian Ministry of Health website and assess the negative consequences for the population. A bibliographic survey on the subject was used, and, mainly, the information on the Ministry of Health website. Content analysis helped in the qualitative exploration of the 69 messages and health information referring, mainly to the coronavirus. Therefore, this study will help to publicize an irresponsible situation, which has been occurring more frequently after the popularization of information technologies.

Las noticias falsas y las noticias reales que involucran cuestiones de salud de la población se vienen reproduciendo constantemente en redes sociales como Facebook o en aplicaciones como WhatsApp. Sin embargo, en su mayoría estos mensajes son falsos y pueden afectar la salud de la población, interrumpir la terapia con medicamentos o hacer que esta no logre su efecto. La población brasileña ha creído en estos mensajes, incluso en duda de la veracidad de contenido los transmiten a sus contactos, quienes tienen la misma práctica contribuyendo a la difusión de desinformación a una gran parte de la población. Esta investigación tiene como objetivo identificar noticias falsas en el sitio web del Ministerio de Salud y evaluar las consecuencias negativas para la población. Se utilizó una encuesta bibliográfica sobre el tema, principalmente la información en el sitio web del Ministerio de Salud. El análisis de contenido ayudó en la exploración cualitativa de los 69 mensajes y la información de salud que se refieren principalmente al coronavirus. Por lo tanto, esta investigación ayudará a difundir una situación irresponsable, que ha estado ocurriendo con mayor frecuencia después de la popularización de las tecnologías de la información.

Analysis of the Anti-Vaccine Movement in Social Networks: A Systematic Review.

The aim of this study was to analyze social networks' information about the anti-vaccine movement. A systematic review was performed in PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL and CUIDEN databases. The search equations were: "vaccine AND social network" and "vaccine AND (Facebook[title] OR Twitter[title] OR Instagram[title] OR YouTube[title])". The final sample was n = 12, including only articles published in the last 10 years, in English or Spanish. Social networks are used by the anti-vaccine groups to disseminate their information. To do this, these groups use different methods, including bots and trolls that generate anti-vaccination messages and spread quickly. In addition, the arguments that they use focus on possible harmful effects and the distrust of pharmaceuticals, promoting the use of social networks as a resource for finding health-related information. The anti-vaccine groups are able to use social networks and their resources to increase their number and do so through controversial arguments, such as the economic benefit of pharmaceuticals or personal stories of children to move the population without using reliable or evidence-based content.

Detecting falsehood relies on mismatch detection between sentence components.

How do people process and evaluate falsehood of sentences? Do people need to compare presented information with the correct answer to determine that a sentence is false, or do they rely on a mismatch between presented sentence components? To illustrate, when confronted with the false sentence 'trains run on highways', does one need to know that trains do not run on highways or does one need to know that trains run on tracks to reject the sentence as false? To investigate these questions, participants were asked to validate sentences that were preceded by images (Experiments 1-3) conveying a truth-congruent or a falsehood-congruent component of the sentence (e.g., an image of tracks/highway preceding the sentence 'trains run on tracks/highways') or by words (Experiment 4) that were either sentence-congruent, truth-congruent, or both (e.g., the word 'train/tracks' preceding the sentence 'trains run on tracks/highways'). Results from four experiments showed that activating sentence-congruent concepts facilitates validation for both false and true sentences but that activating truth-congruent concepts did not aid the validation of false sentences. The present findings suggest that a detection of falsehood relies on a mismatch detection between sentence's components, rather than on the activation of true content in the context of a particular sentence.

From Conversations to Digital Communication: The Mnemonic Consequences of Consuming and Producing Information via Social Media.

Social media has become one of the most powerful and ubiquitous means by which individuals curate, share, and communicate information with their friends, family, and the world at large. Indeed, 90% of the American adolescents are active social media users, as well as 65% of American adults (Perrin, 2015; see also Duggan & Brenner, 2013). Despite this, psychologists are only beginning to understand the mnemonic consequences associated with social media use. In this article, we will distill this nascent literature by focusing on two primary factors: the type of information (personal vs. public) and the role (producer vs. consumer) individuals play when engaging with social media. In particular, we will highlight research examining induced forgetting for personal information as well as false memories and truthiness for public information. We will end by providing some tentative conclusions and a discussion of areas in need of additional research that will provide a more holistic understanding of the mnemonic consequences associated with social media use.