AI and Data Analysis Unit, Banca Popolare Etica, Padova, Italy.
Tor Vergata University, Rome, Italy.
Demography. 2024 Oct 1;61(5):1613-1636. doi: 10.1215/00703370-11587755.
This article investigates the factors that contributed to the proliferation of online COVID skepticism on Twitter across Italian municipalities in 2020. We demonstrate that sociodemographic factors were likely to mitigate the emergence of skepticism, whereas populist political leanings were more likely to foster it. Furthermore, pre-COVID anti-vaccine sentiment, represented by "old truthers" on Twitter, amplified online COVID skepticism in local communities. Additionally, exploiting the spatial variation in restrictive economic policies with severe implications for suspended workers in nonessential economic sectors, we find that COVID skepticism spreads more in municipalities significantly affected by the economic lockdown. Finally, the diffusion of COVID skepticism is positively associated with COVID vaccine hesitancy.
本文研究了 2020 年意大利各城市推特上在线 COVID 怀疑论扩散的因素。我们证明，社会人口因素可能会减轻怀疑论的出现，而民粹主义政治倾向则更有可能助长它。此外，推特上的“老阴谋论者”所代表的 COVID 疫苗前反疫苗情绪，在当地社区放大了线上 COVID 怀疑论。此外，我们利用对非必要经济部门停工工人产生严重影响的限制性经济政策的空间变化，发现 COVID 怀疑论在受经济封锁严重影响的城市中传播得更广。最后，COVID 怀疑论的传播与 COVID 疫苗犹豫呈正相关。
