Responding to Fake News: The Use of Facebook for Public Health Communication During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy

Author(s)
Alessandro Lovari, Gea Ducci, Nicola Righetti
Abstract

Social media platforms have created new challenges for communication during crises related to health issues. In general, public health organisations have often been slow to respond to health concerns on social media for lack of visions, competencies, and/or skills to strategically inform and engage with citizens in new challenging environments where digital publics can make their voices heard by medical experts and health institutions. At the same time social media represent channels where lay people can connect easily with rumours, unverified information, or misinformation related to health issues. This requires a new strategic approach by governments and public health organisations to mitigate the spread of misinformation, especially in times of uncertainty and fear, such as COVID-19. Offering an analysis of pandemic-related posts on Facebook by the Italian Ministry of Health and the 20 Italian regions responsible for public health communication, this chapter highlights how the Italian public health authorities have managed this pandemic on their official social media channels. The case study is particularly interesting since Italy was the first Western country to be affected by COVID-19 and by the connected infodemic that struck the country, already immersed in a general information crisis related to health and science issues.

Organisation(s)
Department of Communication
External organisation(s)
Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Università degli Studi di Urbino "Carlo Bo"
Pages
251-275
No. of pages
25
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79735-5_13
Publication date
2021
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
508007 Communication science, 508020 Political communication
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Social Sciences(all), Arts and Humanities(all)
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
Portal url
https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/responding-to-fake-news-the-use-of-facebook-for-public-health-communication-during-the-covid19-pandemic-in-italy(5ef57a4a-fb27-429e-a0ed-6636604c260c).html