Table 1. Examples of Misinformation From Posts Made to Public Facebook Groups That Contained a Link to DANMASK-19.
| Labeled outcomesa | Excerpt exampleb |
|---|---|
| Claimed mask wearing harms the wearer | It appears that not only does wearing a mask not provide meaningful protection against SARS-CoV-2, but also leads to an increase in infections with other respiratory viruses! |
| Danish study proves the ineffectiveness and even the harmfulness of wearing a mask. | |
| Conspiratorial claims | Corporate fact-checkers are lying to you! All this to serve their Dystopian #Agenda2030 propaganda!! |
| All controlled by politicians, preferring to impose their behavior in all public spaces...[These] are scientists paid by world elites to shamelessly lie to billions of people! | |
| Did not claim mask-wearing harms or cite conspiracies | The recommendation to wear surgical masks in addition to other public health measures did not reduce the rate of SARS-CoV-2 infection among carriers in a community with modest infection rates. |
| A Danish study of 6024 people published today demonstrates the complete uselessness of the outdoor mask against COVID-19. |
Abbreviation: DANMASK-19; Danish Study to Assess Face Masks for the Protection Against COVID-19 Infection.
a
Misinformation was of 2 types: (1) incorrectly stating the conclusions of DANMASK-19 by claiming wearing a mask harmed the wearer (labeled as yes/no) and (2) promoting conspiracies, such as claims of covert political/corporate control of DANMASK-19 (labeled as yes/no). Additionally, we present examples of posts that made neither claim (labeled as yes/no).
b
Excerpts are taken from the actual public Facebook posts as examples of the specific types of content that was labeled. Posts were edited for length and to remove any potentially identifying information.