It’s simply a matter of fact
THE unverified, misleading and false information related to coronavirus that has been spreading around the world has been referred to as an “infodemic” of misinformation.
When news and social media platforms published US President Donald Trump’s dangerous musing about using disinfectant as a cure for coronavirus, it was unequivocally denounced by medical experts. So were claims from elected members of Indian state assemblies that pseudoscience cures, such as cow urine, could be used to combat the outbreak.
But these unsubstantiated articulations are merely the tip of the iceberg.
Researchers at the Bruno Kessler Foundation analysed 112 million public social posts related to the pandemic and found that 40 per cent came from unreliable sources and 42 per cent were circulated by bots.
At a time when a vaccine to prevent COVID-19 is still in the works, various governments and health organisations have been imploring people to rely on official and trustworthy sources of information during the pandemic.
The rise of fake news from the fringes of the information highway to the mainstream has become a cause for concern. In Australia, it is images and videos with text that are being used during COVID-19 to create or propagate misleading or false information on social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, WeChat and YouTube.
One Facebook post, shared 44,000 times, used an image of a Dettol label to claim that the product’s maker may have been aware of coronavirus before it broke out in China in December 2019. AFP Fact Check notes the post being misleading because Dettol’s claim of being effective against a general group of viruses was not tested on coronavirus.
Another Facebook post shared 25,000 times, purporting to demonstrate how to differentiate between Chinese and Indian products — with a view to rekindling Australian manufacturing, was exposed by AAP Fact Check as being malicious.
In Australia, the RMIT ABC Fact Check is one of the units that checks the accuracy of claims made by public figures, advocacy groups and institutions engaged in the public debate. Apart from being responsible to parliament, RMIT ABC Fact Check is also among 93 signatories of the “code of principles” advocated by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) at Poynter Institute.
The IFCN principles focus on non-partisan, fairness and transparency in the factchecking processes and methodology. The IFCN signatories also need to be transparent about their funding sources and provide details of all key personnel working for the organisation.
To dilute the impact of fake news, a number of news media, philanthropic and government agencies have been funding fact-checking activities across the world, with a mission to discredit false and unverified information being created and shared on social platforms. Duke University’s Reporters’ Lab claims presently there are 237 fact-checkers operating in 78 countries.
COVID-19 has increased awareness about fake news, particularly with enhanced fact-checking and its coverage in mainstream media. Social media technology companies too are coming under public and government scrutiny to do more to combat fake news on their platforms.
Hopefully, this increased public discussion about fake news and its adverse impact on society will have created sufficient momentum to turn the tide on the thoughtless sharing of unverified information.
Dr Usha M. Rodrigues is a senior lecturer for the School of Communication and Creative Arts at Deakin University.