On Wednesday, the social network Facebook removed a video posted on the official page of US President Donald Trump, which claimed that children are "virtually immune" to the Corona virus.
The video, which violated Facebook's policies, specifically those on health misinformation about the coronavirus, was viewed by nearly half a million profiles before it was finally removed from the social network. Twitter also blocked a tweet with the same video that was posted by the Trump campaign account.
Before the outbreak of the Corona virus, fake news spread quickly on social media platforms. In a text published in Los Angeles Times by authors Nadia Brashier and Daniel Schacter, it is said that older people are the ones who spread the most fake news, which has become a deadly habit in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The consequences of misinformation are even more deadly during a pandemic. Some false information comes from legitimate sources, making it harder to separate fact from fiction, and it is especially dangerous for older social media users, who are also at greater risk of dying from the virus.
Researchers have found that lies are 70% more likely to be shared than the truth. Recent studies also show that age is the strongest determinant of engagement with fake news. During the 2016 US presidential campaign, Facebook users over the age of 65 shared nearly seven times as many articles from fake news sites as younger users.
Scientists and journalists say that a lack of general knowledge may be the reason why older people spread fake news, but this does not fully explain this phenomenon.
Recent research shows that social changes and digital illiteracy also put older adults at risk for spreading misinformation.
Both young and old alike believe in the content of texts that repeat claims because they are articulated “fluently” or easy to understand. Going by a false headline creates an “illusion of truth” that can deceive all ages.
Older people accumulate knowledge about the world throughout their lives, and this phenomenon may protect them from misinformation. They lose acquaintances with people throughout their lives, but they keep their close friends and form opinions that close friends do not spread fake news.
In fact, general trust increases with age, while the ability to detect lies declines. This makes older people more susceptible to fake news, in this case misinformation about the coronavirus.