Virality and the Virus: Drugs and Cures on Twitter During the COVID-19 Crisis in India

Abstract

Social media platforms often become environments of information ambiguity amidst crisis events. We studied the discussion around four "cures" for COVID-19 in India, site of the highest number of recorded positive cases, between 2020 and May 2021, focusing on the role played by high network accounts on social media such as those of journalists, politicians, and celebrities. We find that information paucity led to social media influencers wielding a more important voice online than institutional sources and experts, leading to massive spikes in demand for unproven cures during the peak of the crisis.