Dueling COVID-19 misinformation: Perceptions and behavior of the rural population from South Asian countries

IF 1.4 4区管理学 Q2 INFORMATION SCIENCE & LIBRARY SCIENCE

Journal of Librarianship and Information Science Pub Date : 2024-03-28 DOI:10.1177/09610006241241065

Bhakti Gala, Manika Lamba, Syeda Hina Batool, Md Anwarul Islam, Raj Kumar Bhardwaj

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Abstract

This multi-lingual study presents the awareness, perceptions, and behavior regarding COVID-19 “misinformation” and “fake news,” among the rural population of the South Asian (SA) countries of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. The survey questionnaire was distributed to a convenient sample of 400 respondents from the three most populated SA countries selected due to their shared socio-cultural history; limited by fund availability and travel restrictions due to the prevailing lockdowns during the data collection period of early 2022. Results indicate that 92.98% of the participants perceived the presence of COVID-19 misinformation to varying degrees around them with less than 10% finding it easy to verify the accuracy of the information. The results indicate that the participants initially believed the made-up news and information to be true and then experienced fear or uncertainty upon realizing that it was fake. Results further show significant differences in perception and behavior when analyzed with the parameters of gender, age, education, and religion. Our study highlighted that female respondents perceived less than male respondents that fake news was around them, and younger participants of the study had less perception of the presence of fake news around them. The present study also found that the education level of respondents is a strong predictor of their perception of COVID-19 misinformation. Respondents with high school degrees perceived less made-up news and information than associate and master-level degree holders. The findings indicate a lack of media literacy, with a vast majority of individuals being susceptible to false information. The findings of the study will help healthcare professionals, information professionals, social workers, extension workers, and policymakers to deal with the Infodemic and further also assist in designing shared health information literacy programs across the region.

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决战 COVID-19 的错误信息：南亚国家农村人口的观念和行为

这项多语言研究介绍了孟加拉国、印度和巴基斯坦等南亚（SA）国家的农村人口对 COVID-19 "错误信息 "和 "假新闻 "的认识、看法和行为。调查问卷发放给了来自人口最多的三个南亚国家的 400 名受访者，这些受访者因其共同的社会文化历史而被选中；在 2022 年初的数据收集期间，受资金供应和当时的封锁造成的旅行限制的限制。结果表明，92.98% 的参与者在不同程度上认为身边存在 COVID-19 的错误信息，只有不到 10%的人认为很容易核实信息的准确性。结果表明，受试者起初认为编造的新闻和信息是真实的，但在意识到这是假的后又产生了恐惧或不确定感。在对性别、年龄、教育程度和宗教信仰等参数进行分析时，结果进一步显示了认知和行为上的重大差异。我们的研究突出表明，女性受访者比男性受访者更少感知到身边存在假新闻，而年轻的研究参与者对身边存在假新闻的感知也更少。本研究还发现，受访者的受教育程度对他们对 COVID-19 错误信息的感知有很强的预测作用。拥有高中学历的受访者比拥有副学士学位和硕士学位的受访者更少感知到虚假新闻和信息。研究结果表明，绝大多数人缺乏媒体素养，容易受到虚假信息的影响。研究结果将有助于医疗保健专业人员、信息专业人员、社会工作者、推广工作者和政策制定者应对 "信息瘟疫"，并进一步帮助设计跨地区的共享健康信息扫盲计划。

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来源期刊

Journal of Librarianship and Information Science INFORMATION SCIENCE & LIBRARY SCIENCE-

CiteScore

4.70

自引率

11.80%

发文量

期刊介绍： Journal of Librarianship and Information Science is the peer-reviewed international quarterly journal for librarians, information scientists, specialists, managers and educators interested in keeping up to date with the most recent issues and developments in the field. The Journal provides a forumfor the publication of research and practical developments as well as for discussion papers and viewpoints on topical concerns in a profession facing many challenges.