Fake news and COVID-19: modelling the predictors of fake news sharing among social media users

Oberiri Destiny Apuke; Bahiyah Omar

doi:10.1016/j.tele.2020.101475

Fake news and COVID-19: modelling the predictors of fake news sharing among social media users

Telemat Inform. 2021 Jan:56:101475. doi: 10.1016/j.tele.2020.101475. Epub 2020 Jul 30.

Authors

Oberiri Destiny Apuke^{1

2}, Bahiyah Omar¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Communication, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.
² Department of Mass Communication, Taraba State University, PMB 1167, Jalingo, Nigeria.

Abstract

Fake news dissemination on COVID-19 has increased in recent months, and the factors that lead to the sharing of this misinformation is less well studied. Therefore, this paper describes the result of a Nigerian sample (n = 385) regarding the proliferation of fake news on COVID-19. The fake news phenomenon was studied using the Uses and Gratification framework, which was extended by an "altruism" motivation. The data were analysed with Partial Least Squares (PLS) to determine the effects of six variables on the outcome of fake news sharing. Our results showed that altruism was the most significant factor that predicted fake news sharing of COVID-19. We also found that social media users' motivations for information sharing, socialisation, information seeking and pass time predicted the sharing of false information about COVID-19. In contrast, no significant association was found for entertainment motivation. We concluded with some theoretical and practical implications.

Keywords: COVID-19; Fake news; Fake news sharing; Nigeria; Social media users.

Publication types

News