We cannot trust everything on social media' - Personal experiences and social media literacy skills in fighting fake news during COVID-19

Throughout the pandemic, social media has been a critical avenue for users to obtain and share news. While social media is viewed as a critical tool for the public to obtain information about COVID-19, there is also a need to examine how information is shared and distributed by the public. With the Internet, misinformation can be easily shared by many people, particularly during a pandemic. To combat fake news, it is critical to understand the level of knowledge and media literacy among Malaysian youth, who account for the majority of Internet users. In this research, we explore the experience and social media literacy skills among youths aged 18-34 years old and their ability to refute fake news about COVID-19. To achieve these objectives, in-depth interviews with 10 social media users who are active in seeking and sharing information or news related to COVID-19 was conducted using an online platform and phone calls. This paper argues that despite the high risk of encountering fake news on social media, youths in this study perceived social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook as an important tool of information for COVID-19. They also believed fake news can be combated by having important media literacy skills, especially when verifying news. Our findings show that most of the participants chose to cross-check the information related to COVID-19 by referring to reliable and official sources such as the National Safety Council (NSC), the Ministry of Health's sebenarnya.my portal, and well-established news outlets like Astro Awani. The findings of this study are significant as they shed light on how youths perceive social media literacy and fake news, as well as the social media literacy skills used to combat fake news during the COVID-19 pandemic.