A new memo from the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, has found very limited amounts of “junk” or conspiratorial health content among the most popular searches for COVID-19 content on YouTube, although such controversial content is over ten times more likely to receive comments from its viewers.
While there are high volumes of content from established news outlets, official information from government and public health agencies only accounts for 0.3% of the videos served up when searching for terms relating to the coronavirus pandemic.
The study of 320 videos also found that users searching for coronavirus news and information related to China are more likely to come across politicized or “junk” content than through any other search query examined by researchers.
Nahema Marchal, doctoral candidate at the OII and researcher on the Computational Propaganda team, said:
“Our research shows instances of misleading and junk information relating to COVID-19 on YouTube are minimal among popular search queries. However, this content is far more likely to encourage engagement from those who choose to view it.
Professor Philip Howard, Director, Oxford Internet Institute, added:
“Only 0.3% of the top YouTube search results on coronavirus were videos from governments or public health agencies. This perhaps presents an opportunity for public agencies to make greater use of YouTube to share vital information and advice on the pandemic with the public.”
This memo is one of a series that will examine misinformation in the debate around the COVID-19 pandemic.
The full memo is available on the Computational Propaganda project website.
For media enquiries please contact Nahema Marchal (UK-based) or Hubert Au (based in Hong Kong).
Research and comment from OII researchers on COVID-19 will be published on the COVID-19 section of the OII website.
Former Research Associate
Nahema was a doctoral candidate at the Oxford Internet Institute and a researcher at the Computational Propaganda Project.
Professor of Internet Studies
Philip N. Howard is a professor of sociology, information, and international affairs. He is Director of the Programme on Democracy and Technology, and is a Professorial Fellow of Balliol College.
DPhil Student
Hubert is a DPhil student at the OII, interested in computational propaganda and social movements online.
This project will focus on how bots, algorithms and other forms of automation are used by political actors in countries around the world.
