The voice of few, the opinions of many: evidence of social biases in Twitter COVID-19 fake news sharing

TL;DR

This study analyzes Twitter's COVID-19 misinformation network, revealing a small group of creators responsible for most false news, which influences a larger consumer base, potentially fueling the infodemic.

Contribution

It provides the first characterization of the social dynamics of COVID-19 misinformation spread on Twitter, highlighting the minority of creators and their influence on the majority of consumers.

Findings

14% of users are creators responsible for most misinformation

Consumers are mostly exposed to opinions of a vocal minority

Perceived majority influence may drive the COVID-19 infodemic

Abstract

Online platforms play a relevant role in the creation and diffusion of false or misleading news. Concerningly, the COVID-19 pandemic is shaping a communication network - barely considered in the literature - which reflects the emergence of collective attention towards a topic that rapidly gained universal interest. Here, we characterize the dynamics of this network on Twitter, analyzing how unreliable content distributes among its users. We find that a minority of accounts is responsible for the majority of the misinformation circulating online, and identify two categories of users: a few active ones, playing the role of "creators", and a majority playing the role of "consumers". The relative proportion of these groups ($\approx$14% creators - 86% consumers) appears stable over time: Consumers are mostly exposed to the opinions of a vocal minority of creators, that could be mistakenly understood as of representative of the majority of users. The corresponding pressure from a perceived majority is identified as a potential driver of the ongoing COVID-19 infodemic.