Social Media Users as the New Gatekeepers: Diffusion and Restriction of COVID-19 Misinformation of Selected Facebook Users in Capas, Tarlac

Abstract

This research explores the emerging gatekeeping roles of social media users, particularly on Facebook, and their influence on the information flow and spread of COVID-19 misinformation on the platform. Underpinned by the Network Gatekeeping Theory, data were gathered from October to December 2021 through an online survey of 76 Facebook users who are Top Fans of the Capas Information Office page. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and rank-biserial and Spearman’s rank-order correlations to test the association between the gatekeepers’ characteristics and their gatekeeping activities.

Results show that the participants are not just consumers of the information they receive from posters through Facebook features but are also information controllers. Though armed with verification methods, they are exposed to COVID-19 misinformation through the Facebook newsfeed and pages, mainly from public figures and friends. Subsequently, they restrict the entry of misinformation into their network by cutting off their connection to the source (withholding) and ignoring the content (disregarding). However, the users sometimes participate in spreading misinformation by incorporating a response to the post using Facebook reactions (integration), exposing their gated network to false information. In addition, whether restricting or diffusing COVID-19 misinformation, the respondents tend to choose information control activities requiring less effort. Moreover, the research only found very weak to weak associations between the gatekeepers’ characteristics and the gatekeeping activities they use. Finally, recommendations to address the emerging roles of users as gatekeepers and a typology of the characteristics of gatekeeping activities on legacy media and social media are proposed.