Want to see more data on these questions?

To analyze these survey questions by additional media habits and demographic characteristics, visit the

In all, 52% of those who said they had seen any made-up news related to the coronavirus outbreak offered specific storylines or claims they had come across that seemed completely made up.

The largest group of responses (41% of all who provided claims) cited information about the level of risk associated with the outbreak. Sentiment was divided between those who thought the information falsely elevated the risks (22%) and those who saw it downplaying the risks in a way that was not credible (15%).

Those in the first category named such things as numbers of COVID-19 deaths that seemed higher than possible and a false overplay of risks by sharp investors so they could make “gobs of money” by “shorting the stock market.” Some of these respondents said it was the media overhyping the risk, including someone who objected to a front-page newspaper photo designed to equate the coronavirus with the 1918 Spanish flu. (In the March 10-16 survey, one question asked people whether the media had exaggerated the risks of the virus. Roughly six-in-ten of all respondents – 62% – agreed they had either

The next largest category of COVID-19-related claims people viewed as made-up dealt with the virus itself – 30% in all. Among the mix of specific claims, 12% had to do with the origin of the coronavirus. Those claims seen as made up often centered on China, which endured the first outbreak, and included reports that the pandemic was caused by a Chinese biological weapon gone astray or was part of a more sinister plot by that government to deal with overpopulation. (The March 10-16 survey also asked about the

Another 11% of those who provided examples of made-up news they encountered cited reports that fall into a broad category of events and actions related to the outbreak.

Some respondents expressed uncertainty about the credibility of information about celebrities reported to have fallen ill. For example, Tom Hanks and his wife, actress Rita Wilson,

The other common topic of seemingly made-up news is about the responses of politicians or other political actors (10%). President Trump, with his high-profile televised briefings, was the most frequent name to appear in this category of claims cited as false, whether the claims were positive or negative toward him. Some cited claims that put blamed him for the current state of the outbreak as false, while others pointed to him as a source of made-up information himself.

Within the category of claims about politicians' responses, 5% of respondents cited reports trying to blame Trump for the crisis as made-up news. Some of those examples say the claims were the work of liberals and their media allies. Democrats are “using this as a weapon against Trump,” wrote one respondent. Another said blaming Trump can be attributed to “idiots on MSNBC and CNN.”

Conversely, 4% cited the president as a general source of made-up information, referring to his tweets or statementson the outbreak as not credible. “Anything Trump says” was the terse answer from one of those respondents.

A smaller share of respondents (1%) cited examples of made-up information that blamed other political actors for poorly preparing for the virus or using the circumstances for political gain, such as those in Congress. Examples here include a claim that the coronavirus was made by Republicans and assertions that the Democrats had turned the crisis into a political contest.

These measures and more can be explored further in the Election News Pathways data tool, where all of the data associated with this project is available for public use. 

You can read more about our research on public opinion of COVID-19 here.

Data from this analysis comes from a survey conducted March 10-16, 2020. See the survey questions and methodology for this analysis, or access the dataset.

Acknowledgments: The Election News Pathways project was made possible by The Pew Charitable Trusts. Pew Research Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder. This initiative is a collaborative effort based on the input and analysis of a number of individuals and experts at Pew Research Center.