Support for censorship and corrective action against social media misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines: comparisons across age, gender, and racial/ethnic groups

This study investigated how an individual’s presumed influence of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation on others affects their intention to support censorship and engage in corrective measures against social media misinformation. A U.S. national survey was conducted in March 2021, using a random sample of 1,030 respondents from the U.S. national panel of Qualtrics. The results supported the serial mediation hypothesis in which the perceived exposure of others to misinformation led to corrective actions through presumed influence on others and support for censorship. The results also showed that men tended to perceive a stronger presumed influence resulting from others’ exposure to misinformation and greater intentions to take corrective actions than women. Furthermore, White respondents exhibited a stronger inclination to support censorship regarding misinformation due to the presumed influence of such information on others.