Dynamics and triggers of misinformation on vaccines.
The Covid-19 pandemic has sparked renewed attention to the risks of online misinformation, emphasizing its impact on individuals' quality of life through the spread of health-related myths and misconceptions. In this study, we analyze 6 years (2016-2021) of Italian vaccine debate across diverse...
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2025-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0316258 |
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| author | Emanuele Brugnoli Marco Delmastro |
| author_facet | Emanuele Brugnoli Marco Delmastro |
| author_sort | Emanuele Brugnoli |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Covid-19 pandemic has sparked renewed attention to the risks of online misinformation, emphasizing its impact on individuals' quality of life through the spread of health-related myths and misconceptions. In this study, we analyze 6 years (2016-2021) of Italian vaccine debate across diverse social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube), encompassing all major news sources-both questionable and reliable. We first use the symbolic transfer entropy analysis of news production time-series to dynamically determine which category of sources, questionable or reliable, causally drives the agenda on vaccines. Then, leveraging deep learning models capable to accurately classify vaccine-related content based on the conveyed stance and discussed topic, respectively, we evaluate the focus on various topics by news sources promoting opposing views and compare the resulting user engagement. Our study uncovers misinformation not as a parasite of the news ecosystem that merely opposes the perspectives offered by mainstream media, but as an autonomous force capable of even overwhelming the production of vaccine-related content from the latter. While the pervasiveness of misinformation is evident in the significantly higher engagement of questionable sources compared to reliable ones (up to 11 times higher in median value), our findings underscore the need for consistent and thorough pro-vax coverage to counter this imbalance. This is especially important for sensitive topics, where the risk of misinformation spreading and potentially exacerbating negative attitudes toward vaccines is higher. While reliable sources have successfully promoted vaccine efficacy, reducing anti-vax impact, gaps in pro-vax coverage on vaccine safety led to the highest engagement with anti-vax content. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-eb0d04acfd4f484999875647237c5f2f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj-art-eb0d04acfd4f484999875647237c5f2f2025-02-05T05:31:25ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032025-01-01201e031625810.1371/journal.pone.0316258Dynamics and triggers of misinformation on vaccines.Emanuele BrugnoliMarco DelmastroThe Covid-19 pandemic has sparked renewed attention to the risks of online misinformation, emphasizing its impact on individuals' quality of life through the spread of health-related myths and misconceptions. In this study, we analyze 6 years (2016-2021) of Italian vaccine debate across diverse social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube), encompassing all major news sources-both questionable and reliable. We first use the symbolic transfer entropy analysis of news production time-series to dynamically determine which category of sources, questionable or reliable, causally drives the agenda on vaccines. Then, leveraging deep learning models capable to accurately classify vaccine-related content based on the conveyed stance and discussed topic, respectively, we evaluate the focus on various topics by news sources promoting opposing views and compare the resulting user engagement. Our study uncovers misinformation not as a parasite of the news ecosystem that merely opposes the perspectives offered by mainstream media, but as an autonomous force capable of even overwhelming the production of vaccine-related content from the latter. While the pervasiveness of misinformation is evident in the significantly higher engagement of questionable sources compared to reliable ones (up to 11 times higher in median value), our findings underscore the need for consistent and thorough pro-vax coverage to counter this imbalance. This is especially important for sensitive topics, where the risk of misinformation spreading and potentially exacerbating negative attitudes toward vaccines is higher. While reliable sources have successfully promoted vaccine efficacy, reducing anti-vax impact, gaps in pro-vax coverage on vaccine safety led to the highest engagement with anti-vax content.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0316258 |
| spellingShingle | Emanuele Brugnoli Marco Delmastro Dynamics and triggers of misinformation on vaccines. PLoS ONE |
| title | Dynamics and triggers of misinformation on vaccines. |
| title_full | Dynamics and triggers of misinformation on vaccines. |
| title_fullStr | Dynamics and triggers of misinformation on vaccines. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Dynamics and triggers of misinformation on vaccines. |
| title_short | Dynamics and triggers of misinformation on vaccines. |
| title_sort | dynamics and triggers of misinformation on vaccines |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0316258 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT emanuelebrugnoli dynamicsandtriggersofmisinformationonvaccines AT marcodelmastro dynamicsandtriggersofmisinformationonvaccines |