Fake News, Misinformation, and Privacy: How the COVID-19 Pandemic Changes Our Society and How Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies Reduce Their Effects

Abstract

This position article summarizes the panelists’ presentations and discussions at the panel “Fake News, Misinformation, and Privacy: How COVID-19 Pandemic Changed Our Society,” held at the 15th International Conference on Information Resources Management (Conf-IRM 2022) on October 18, 2022. The panel discussed their views on (1) how to stop the spreading of health misinformation; (2) how information sources affect online health information behavior; (3) how news literacy increases people’s desire to seek out information by increasing their skepticism; and (4) how political beliefs, trust, and privacy concerns affect people’s decisions during COVID-19. This article also discusses how blockchain and distributed ledger technologies can help tackle the fake news and misinformation problem.