As the COVID-19 pandemic persists, misinformation continues to circulate widely. Journalists and public health officials struggle to debunk these false and misleading claims, an especially challenging task in the U.S. where COVID-19 has become a highly polarizing issue.
Are these efforts successful? According to a new study published in Nature Human Behaviour, fact checks can successfully reduce misperceptions about COVID-19 immediately after people read them but do not have lasting effects over time.
Our results suggest that effectively addressing misbeliefs about COVID-19 will require repeatedly debunking false claims about the coronavirus.
“Our results suggest that effectively addressing misbeliefs about COVID-19 will require repeatedly debunking false claims about the coronavirus. Otherwise, people will tend to revert back toward the level of belief that they had before,” says co-author Brendan Nyhan, the James O. Freedman Presidential Professor in the Department of Government.
“The good news is that reliable information can get a foothold,” says co-author John Carey, the associate dean for the social sciences and the John Wentworth Professor in the Social Sciences. “The next question is how to make that stick. It appears that people need regular boosters.”
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