Assessment of the quality of information on Covid-19 websites: an alternative for combating fake news

Abstract

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have spread worldwide and are increasingly present in almost every aspect of human life, including health. The issue of information quality has assumed great importance amid widespread dissemination of false knowledge, especially in the context of a pandemic. We evaluated the quality of information on websites about COVID-19 of four Health Secretariats in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, from July to August 2020. This participatory evaluation employed five criteria, following the international literature, namely: Technical, Interactivity, Comprehensiveness, Legibility, and Accuracy, subdivided into 46 indicators. The results of the evaluated sites point to a low level of compliance with the indicators and criteria adopted and do not disclose the primary scientific evidence on the topic, available on the Ministry of Health website. The high circulation of fake news has marked the COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, Health Secretariats’ pages should display quality and intelligible information about the disease. Only then will they offer reliable informational content based on scientific evidence, contributing to the fight against fake news and its adverse impacts.