"It Frustrates Me Beyond Words That I Can't Fix that": Health Misinformation Correction on Facebook During COVID-19.

Abstract

This study investigated the experiences of communication officials at local health departments (LHD) in the US Midwest regarding the correction of health misinformation on Facebook during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through interviews with communication officials, this study examined how and why they corrected health misinformation, the challenges they encountered during the correction process, and the importance of having fact-checkers within LHDs. The analysis of the data revealed four major themes: factors influencing misinformation correction on Facebook, perceived effectiveness of health misinformation correction, the intersection of the First Amendment and health misinformation, and the role of fact-checking in LHDs. The LHD communication officials often faced conflicts and public rebuttals when directly correcting misinformation leading them to adopt the strategy of addressing misinformation through future posts instead of direct correction. These findings provide significant insights for communication officials to identify and correct health misinformation and emphasize the need for healthcare organizations to provide essential resources to information and communication professionals during times of crises.