Using Rumors and Misinformation to Build Public Trust and Confidence during COVID-19

Public trust in government and public institutions is key in battling global health pandemic such as COVID-19. The public turns to official news sources for trusted information when rumors and misinformation swirl in social media during such elevated crisis situation and uncertainty. Governments and public institutions can, and should, raise public trust in their handling of the health crisis situation by showing how they are handling online misinformation and rumors to safeguard the public.

This project extracted and systematically analyzed all news articles on misinformation (> 5000 articles from December 31, 2019 to February 29, 2020) related to COVID-19 published in 2 of the most read news sources from 3 Asian countries (China, South Korea, Singapore). Comparative learning points from how these countries have done so (positively and negatively) will be distilled and discussed.

How to fight the COVID-19 infodemic: lessons from 3 Asian countries

Research team: Elmie Nekmat, Audrey Yue