Fake news grips worried world
It was the bat-eating video that finally sent me over the edge. Since coronavirus dragged us out of our holiday reverie, I’ve been wading through hyperbole trying to find out how worried I should be. It’s a hell of a way to enter a new decade. I used to enjoy a good post-apocalypse movie; now I just have to read the news. Fires raging in Australia, climate meltdown, bizarre United States politics, Europe imploding and now a virus spreading across the world.
If it’s true that the first coronavirus case was noticed in early December, then it was a month before the World Health Organisation (WHO) was told about it, and only last Friday that a global emergency was declared.
As we tried to make sense of it, British media ran a story suggesting coronavirus was caused by eating ‘‘bat soup’’. That went viral – shared more than 96,000 times on Facebook – but more disturbingly it was run by supposedly reputable mainstream media worldwide. The originator, the Daily Star, eventually published a correction, but that didn’t get anywhere near the same shares.
Bizarre pictures emerged, including video of a parasite being removed from a person’s lips, inferring it was related to the virus, and endless photos of people in hazmat suits.
Conspiracy theorists have had a ball, claiming experts had been aware of the virus for years and deliberately manufactured it to attract research funding.
So here I am trying to read information from legitimate sources while avoiding a bombardment of lies, speculation and fake news.
Several sites on Twitter claim they’re the one source of truth. Facebook is the same. Of course, it was only last year Facebook was slammed for facilitating blatant lies and encouraging fanaticism. Really, nothing has changed.
A review of data from social monitoring platform CrowdTangle found that half the top 10 most shared English-language links about coronavirus on Facebook last month were hyperbolic, fearmongering and blatantly misleading stories from actual media organisations.
Even in New Zealand it’s caused hysteria as respirators, face masks and hand sanitisers sell out, with one pharmacy accused of profiteering: bumping the price of a mask up from $3.50 to $30.
The misinformation has also incited racism across the world. Chinese people in Western countries say they have been the target of abuse, including calls to avoid their restaurants and shops. Cafes and educational institutes have been banning Chinese citizens, and parents are keeping their children away from Chinese classmates.
Sadly, New Zealand hasn’t escaped the racism. There’s been plenty of discussion on social media about whether holiday-home owners can get away with banning Chinese visitors.
Am I naive in expecting the media to take some responsibility and provide actual facts during a global health emergency? In a crisis, communication is vital. We need clear, fact-based instructions as early and as regularly as possible. As misinformation on social media continues to go largely unchecked and mainstream media is increasingly motivated by click bait, it begs the question of where we get reliable information.
Many large organisations have begun to invest more in direct channels to their audiences rather than trying to influence media and manage social media. I predict this will only increase.
I’m told ‘‘disinformation’’ experts and factcheckers are trying to clean up the mess of lies throughout social and mainstream media about coronavirus. Please hurry up, because in the meantime the world media is having a party with this issue, and it’s totally irresponsible.