An Analysis on the Relationship Between Misinformation and Hate Speech in the Framework of YouTube Discussions About Vaccines Produced in China

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic significantly influenced conventional and new media. In this context, it has been observed that the infodemic that emerges due to parameters of new media poses social risks. This study aims to analyze the relationship between misinformation, hate speech and the amount of user interaction during COVID-19 on digital platforms in the context of vaccines produced in China. 2919 user comments were collected from the five YouTube videos. Comments were analysed with deductive content analysis and Chi-square test was implemented. A significant relationship exists between misinformation existence and hate speech existence. In addition, a significant relationship was found between hate speech existence and amount of user interaction in comments. Content of comments, where both misinformation and hate speech exist, shows that users often claim that the virus is a project, a war instrument or vaccines arc commercial instruments. It is observed that a they versus us discourse was established in the context of the situation in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Turkophobia. It was identified that when misinformation exists in user comments, the existence of hate speech is 5,1% higher. It was observed that the average amount of user interaction of comments that contain hate speech is 6,6 while the average amount of user interaction in overall comments is 3,4. Finally, it is concluded that this situation can potentially impact the fight with ongoing health crisis in a negative way.