Optimizing Interventions to Combat COVID‑19 Misinformation Online
Led by Sheridan College, this collaborative applied research initiative will produce and disseminate creative interventions meant to curb the spread of COVID‑19 related misinformation and disinformation online. Doing so directly addresses community innovation challenges surrounding critical public health behaviours (like social distancing and frequent handwashing) by changing erroneous beliefs about the cause, scope, or impact of COVID-19, halting the spread of such information/beliefs on social media, and/or increasing digital/media literacy. The Sheridan College applied research team will work in step with MediaSmarts, BEworks, and our extended academic network to iteratively develop, design, test, optimize, and widely disseminate interventions
rooted in behavioural science and digital/media literacy research, built through applied creativity, and
rigorously tested for impact, in an expedited fashion.
