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Inoculating against COVID-19 Misinformation: Assessing Evidence-Based Interventions

The COVID-19 outbreak has been accompanied by a wave of misinformation whose impact has been increased by isolation and many people’s subsequent reliance on social media as a source of news. This has significant implications for health behaviours and compliance with public health guidance. Building on our previous work investigating the drivers of misinformation acceptance, we aim to establish (1) the factors affecting an individual’s response to misinformation about COVID-19, and (2) the effectiveness of a range of cognitive interventions aimed at reducing the spread of COVID-19-related misinformation. Our first priority will be to conduct a large online study (N=3000) to establish the factors that affect people’s tendency to believe, share or act on misinformation related to coronavirus. Our past experience in this field suggests that relevant factors will include knowledge about the topic and degree of engagement with traditional and social media, as well as critical thinking skills; evidence suggests that belief in “fake news” is often driven by a failure to slow down and critically analyse novel material. Initial findings from this study will be published online within weeks. We will then test the effectiveness of a range of targeted online interventions, developed in an evidence-based manner in response to the data emerging from the first study. These interventions will fall into three categories, which will target a) knowledge about COVID-19, b) critical thinking skills and c) social norms around sharing unverified news content; their format and content will be heavily informed by our existing expertise in cognitive biases and processes. Finally, we will evaluate the long-term effects of the selected interventions on misinformation acceptance, with follow-up studies after one week, one month, three months and six months. Initial findings will be published online as soon as available, with formal publications to follow.