Abstract
This chapter examines the concepts of mistrust, news habits, and attitudes toward social and health measures associated with Covid-19 crisis. The aim is to assess how beliefs in fake news and conspiracy theories impact the reaction of the Canadian population to the coronavirus pandemic. The analyses presented in this chapter aim to answer specific research questions who want (1) to investigate to what extent the pandemic-related conspiracy theories and fake news permeated the beliefs of Canadians; (2) to find the socio-demographic characteristics of the Canadian who subscribes to pandemic-related conspiracy theories and fake news; (3) to bring out the types of information sources used by the Canadians who subscribes to pandemic-related conspiracy theories and fake news; and (4) to reveal the social attitudes of the Canadian who subscribes to pandemic-related conspiracy theories and fake news.
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Notes
- 1.
According to the WHO, the excess mortality directly and indirectly associated with SARS-CoV2 could be three times higher.
- 2.
A loss of trust in the media and governments can lead to a reluctance to use diagnostic tests, or compromise vaccine campaigns and promotion (FranceInfo, April 2, 2021).
- 3.
This global grant initiative is led by Professor Mélissa Généreux. The first authors of this chapter are among the co-applicants of the grant.
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Carignan, ME., Champagne-Poirier, O., Aliaga, G. (2023). Disinformation in the Age of the Covid-19 Pandemic: How Does Belief in Fake News and Conspiracy Theories Affect Canadians’ Reactions to the Crisis?. In: La Rocca, G., Carignan, ME., Boccia Artieri, G. (eds) Infodemic Disorder. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13698-6_7
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