Health-Related Rumor Debunking on Sina Weibo in China (2009-2024): 15-Year Retrospective Infodemiology Study
Yuan Fang, Chengwu He, Yejinxuan Hu, Xianyun Tian, Amaryllis Mavragani · 2026
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Description
Yuan Fang and co-authors mapped fifteen years of health rumor rebuttals on a Chinese social platform in a 2026 study. Official debunking posts on Sina Weibo from 2009 to 2024 were gathered and sorted by machine methods. Of some 377,000 rebuttal posts, about a quarter dealt with health.
Health debunking surged during the COVID-19 pandemic and stayed above pre-pandemic levels through 2024, though its share of all rebuttals fell. Topic mapping traced how themes shifted over the years. Models then weighed which post and author traits drove sharing and engagement. The authors say long-run patterns, not just crisis spikes, should guide health communication policy. The data set spans a full era of platform growth.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Yuan Fang, Chengwu He, Yejinxuan Hu, Xianyun Tian, Amaryllis Mavragani |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 103 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |