Undermining Credibility: The Limited Influence of Online Comments to Vaccine-related News Stories

Abstract

State-sponsored disinformation campaigns increasingly use anti-vaccine comments to not only undermine public health but to also reduce confidence and participation in a democratic society. Despite these dangers, research has not fully explored whether anti-vaccine comments can achieve these effects. To address this gap, an online survey experiment was conducted using a national sample of 1010 U.S. adults. Participants read a mainstream news article discussing the flu vaccine that included random variations of user comments adapted from a documented state-sponsored disinformation campaign. While exposure to anti-vaccine comments did not affect participants’ views of vaccines or their willingness to discuss vaccines, participants holding pro-vaccine views reported lower confidence in news organizations and viewed the journalist who authored their article as less credible. These results suggest that anti-vaccine comments may produce effects that align with the goals of state-sponsored disinformation campaigns.

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Genevieve Ramsey and Jessica McKnight for their assistance in the early stages of this project.

Notes

¹ Originally, 1016 participants completed the study. However, 6 participants either reported their ages to be under 18 or their age could not be assessed. These six participants were subsequently removed from the dataset per IRB instructions. The findings were consistent with or without the removal of these 6 participants.