1. Introduction
panic, anxiety
The COVID-19 pandemic was accompanied by the rapid spread of misinformation through social media platforms. This study attempted to develop an online fake news game based on the inoculation theory, applicable to the pandemic context, and aimed at enhancing misinformation discrimination. It also tested whether perceived threat and persuasion knowledge serve as underlying mechanisms of the effects of the intervention on misinformation discrimination. In Study 1, we used online priming to examine the influence of inoculation on misinformation discrimination. In Study 2, we developed an online fake-news-game-based intervention and attempted to validate its effectiveness through a randomized controlled trial while also exploring the mediating roles of perceived threat and persuasion knowledge. In Study 1, brief inoculation information priming significantly enhanced the ability to recognize misinformation (With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, anxiety and panic caused by the uncertainty of the pandemic made the need for information urgent and pressing, which also provided the foundation that many rumormongers needed for spreading a plethora of related misinformation on social media platforms [Refuting rumors is a common method used to tackle infodemics, although researchers suggest that once misinformation is ingrained in one’s memory, it is difficult to change [