Does aggressive tweeting by the government help to control the COVID-19 outbreak? Evidence from China

This paper estimates the role of the usage of the largest social media platform in China, Sina Weibo, by the Chinese government for controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. Manually collected governmental microblogs about the COVID-19 outbreak were analysed, which showed that a 10 per cent increase in the number of microblogs resulted in a 1.38 per cent decrease of confirmed COVID-19 cases. This effect was more pronounced in areas with less restrained travel restrictions. The effect relies primarily on two mechanisms: encouraging home quarantine and promoting knowledge about COVID-19 prevention.