Infodemic Signal Detection During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Development of a Methodology for Identifying Potential Information Voids in Online Conversations

Tina D Purnat   ^{1 *} , MSc ;   Paolo Vacca   ^{2 *} , BSt ;   Christine Czerniak   ^{3 *} , PhD ;   Sarah Ball   ^{2 *} , BA ;   Stefano Burzo   ^{4 *} , MA ;   Tim Zecchin   ^{2 *} , BA ;   Amy Wright   ^{2 *} , BA ;   Supriya Bezbaruah   ^{5 *} , PhD ;   Faizza Tanggol   ⁶ , BA ;   Ève Dubé   ^{7 *} , PhD ;   Fabienne Labbé   ^{7 *} , PhD ;   Maude Dionne   ^{7 *} , MSc ;   Jaya Lamichhane   ^{3 *} , MA, MBA ;   Avichal Mahajan   ^{3 *} , PhD ;   Sylvie Briand   ^{3 *} , MPH, MD, PhD ;   Tim Nguyen   ^{3 *} , MSc

¹ Digital Health and Innovation, Science Division, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland

² Media Measurement Ltd, London, United Kingdom

³ Emergency Preparedness, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland

⁴ Department of Political Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

⁵ Health Emergencies Programme, World Health Organization Regional Office for South East Asia, New Delhi, India

⁶ World Health Organization Country Office Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and Singapore, Putrajaya, Malaysia

⁷ Institut national de santé publique du Québec, Montreal, QC, Canada

*these authors contributed equally