The spread of misinformation on social media has become a severe threat to public interests. In this study, misinformation is defined as information that is fake or misleading and spreads unintentionally. In the initial phase of the research on social media misinformation, three specific domains were identified by their severity: disaster, health, and politics. Following a systematic review process, the study adopted an Antecedents-Misinformation-Outcomes (AMIO) framework to discuss the inter-relationships of concepts and the strategies to control the spread of misinformation on social media. This review contributes to the emerging body of knowledge on social media misinformation and information systems and informs strategies to combat social media misinformation. This study is one of the early research that focuses on social media misinformation research, particularly on three socially sensitive domains: disaster, health, and politics.
In the second phase, this research seeks to understand the public health threats arising from misinformation on social media platforms and the psychological motives behind the spread of such misinformation. The study experimentally studies the impact of digital interventions on the spread of social media health misinformation. Drawing upon the concepts of psychological ownership motivation, social exchange theory (SET), and digital nudging, this research aims to contribute to the growing literature on health misinformation management by (i) examining the psychological drivers of users engaging in disseminating fake health information and (ii) assessing the potential impacts of digital nudging in influencing the user’s health information-sharing behaviour. The findings of this study will aid public health communicators, social media platform owners, and policymakers in strategically designing campaigns and policy initiatives to combat the infodemic