The start of the year 2020 brought with itself the COVID-19 virus, the virus soon broke out in a list of different countries and a widespread was caused. The number of COVID19 cases all over the world started surging and millions began to get affected. This caused governments all over the world to impose strict lockdowns. While in lockdown, people all over the world hoped for the world to get normal again and missed their normal lives. The only hope that people has was that of a COVID-19 vaccine, scientist since the start of this virus worked hard for developing a vaccine and came out with different versions of it in March 2021. The COVID19 vaccines are a ray of hope against the dark times that the pandemic has brought upon. It is important for us to get ourselves and those around us vaccinated so that we can effectively fight this virus. While the whole world is thankful for the COVID19 vaccines and have started getting their doses, there are still a lot of people that are spreading fake news about the vaccine and are criticizing it. A lot of this fake news is being spread on social media channels such as Facebook.
Recently a survey regarding the spread of fake news on Facebook against COVID vaccines was conducted. In the survey 25% people which had Facebook as their primary news source rejected the COVID19 vaccine, this percentage was slightly higher than that of people who had FOX news as their primary news source.
The survey was conducted by Washington Post as a part of its ‘COVID states project’. The survey was conducted on 20,699 American citizens belonging from different American states. Amongst the 20,699 people 16% were those that had Facebook as their primary news source. 47% of the people that got their news from Facebook said that they have been vaccinated, whereas 25% said that they will not get a vaccination. Amongst people that got their news from ‘FOX News’, was a bigger vaccinated population with 59% vaccinated while 23% of them refused to take the vaccine, which is close however lesser than that of Facebook’s 25%.
Out of the 20,699 people who were surveyed, 68% were vaccinated while 18% refused vaccination.
This survey proved that people who got their news from Facebook were less aware and more hesitant towards the COVID 19 vaccine, this also shows that Facebook needs to work towards vaccine awareness. Facebook since a long time is being criticized for spreading fake news and information regarding the vaccine. US president Joe Biden also gave out a statement regarding the situation saying that misinformation on social media is killing people.
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Recently a survey regarding the spread of fake news on Facebook against COVID vaccines was conducted. In the survey 25% people which had Facebook as their primary news source rejected the COVID19 vaccine, this percentage was slightly higher than that of people who had FOX news as their primary news source.
The survey was conducted by Washington Post as a part of its ‘COVID states project’. The survey was conducted on 20,699 American citizens belonging from different American states. Amongst the 20,699 people 16% were those that had Facebook as their primary news source. 47% of the people that got their news from Facebook said that they have been vaccinated, whereas 25% said that they will not get a vaccination. Amongst people that got their news from ‘FOX News’, was a bigger vaccinated population with 59% vaccinated while 23% of them refused to take the vaccine, which is close however lesser than that of Facebook’s 25%.
Out of the 20,699 people who were surveyed, 68% were vaccinated while 18% refused vaccination.
This survey proved that people who got their news from Facebook were less aware and more hesitant towards the COVID 19 vaccine, this also shows that Facebook needs to work towards vaccine awareness. Facebook since a long time is being criticized for spreading fake news and information regarding the vaccine. US president Joe Biden also gave out a statement regarding the situation saying that misinformation on social media is killing people.
Read next: Ever wonder which are the most visited websites and apps used across the world? Well their percentage usage can blow your mind
