How to Fight Fake News ‘Infodemic’ amid COVID-19

The only thing that is spreading as fast as the new coronavirus is fake news and theories around it. From the seemingly credible to the predictably untrue, fake news and misinformation about the COVID-19 is flooding the internet and making a sense of crisis around the world.

misinformation is not a new term for anyone, for years tech giants and social media platforms are fighting the fake news, but there is no victory till now. after countless policies to take on fake news the situation is as it is.

Conspiracy theories and false claims about the novel coronavirus have swirled as the illness spreads globally, with killing almost a lakh worldwide.

according to a recent report by the Checkpoint, 4,000 new websites that mention coronavirus in their name have been created this year, and 3 percent of those are considered malicious. Disinformation experts say there’s little evidence of coordinated misinformation campaigns - the bigger threat is speculation and false rumours about coronavirus that spread organically on online forums.

So much misinformation around!

a new term has been coined recently – “infodemic”, this is the so called unchecked information surrounding us that threatens and hamper the world’s collective best efforts to curtail the coronavirus, which has killed more than 115,000 people in a little more than 100 days since news of its emergence in Wuhan, China, consumed the world’s media.

The misinformation around the novel coronavirus is creating social and political chaos, greater than what the virus itself has created. There is a key battle going on the virtual and technical grounds.

While millions of us remain cooped up in our homes under strict lockdown laws, on Whatsapp, Facebook, youtube and elsewhere, a range of bogus stories and half-baked conspiracy theories concerning COVID-19 have gained considerable global momentum.

There has been rumours that drinking more water will flush out the virus from your body,

and almost 35 per cent of people in UK have been trying this trick, according to some media reports. along with such rumors there have been some fake videos and news spreading across the social media platforms adrifting people.

Despite best efforts by the government and social media checkers, people are still sharing this stuff left, right and centre. Including some content that purportedly proved coronavirus was man-made or caused by the rollout of 5G mobile technology.

among some of the more notable stories to be disproved were reports shared on Facebook suggesting Russia had unleashed 500 lions to prevent people from going outdoors, and Twitter posts claiming UK Prime minister

Boris Johnson - who recently spent several days in hospital after contracting coronavirus - was dead.

It is very frightening and infuriating because you know this information is false, but the people who are sharing it have the confidence this will help or save humanity - and other people pick up on that. There is so much misinformation being spouted around that it is a disease itself.

you cannot know what is true or false now, the sense of judgement is lost!

Some professional fact-checkers said the widespread confusion partly stemmed from the overwhelming amount of available content online concerning COVID-19, which has had an impact on every continent except

antarctica. Now every country in the world is talking about this now.

The large number of false claims are starting off in one place and then being translated into lots of different languages and moving from platform to platform and spreading from country to country., just like a virus.

Full Fact has so far debunked a slew of incorrect stories and claims, and it expects more to emerge. above all the theories and rumors there is one that has been prominent online in recent weeks, is theories linking the pandemic to 5G mobile technology.

Which should not be something new because anti-5g conspiracy theories have been there from quite a sometime. For decades we have seen every successive generation of mobile phone technology making baseless claims about supposed associated health risks.

Infact starting of this year, a Belgian doctor Kris Van Kerckhoven stated new claims around “possible link” between 5G and coronavirus. Within weeks, of publishing his stories online, his words had been seized on by the anti-5g movement, which in turn sent conspiracy theories racing through the internet.

There are also been some theories about the inception of this virus, like this is bio-bomb, and some theories has also linked the novel virus with avenger’s Thanos and his idea of genocide.

many theories and rumors, with no evidence for any of it!

What is Social Media doing?

Tech giants and social media platforms including, Google, apple, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and youtube have come together to fight the falsehoods spread about COVID-19, this is a classic example of how bad information can ruin lives.

People are relying on the information they are seeing to keep themselves safe at this time, and in a situation where online falsehoods could directly result in offline harm, its just not the social media platforms but all of its users have a responsibility with what to choose to share.

meanwhile, putting their aimed scrutiny aside, governments around the world has called on the tech giants to do more in combating misinformation on their platforms.

It is right that all the social media giants are being called to account the situation, but are they the only one to take the responsibilities?

There has been some instance where the governments itself has urged the users to keep a check on what they are sharing and receiving, some policies has also been made for the same, but still there is no improvement.

Social media companies are playing their part and stamping out deliberate attempts to stop the spread of fake news about COVID-19. The companies are claiming that they are taking required measures to crack down on fake news and harmful content online.

a spokesperson for Facebook, which also owns Instagram and Whatsapp, has said to some media outlet, “aggressive steps to stop misinformation and harmful content from spreading on our platform. This includes false cures, false claims that 5G technology causes the symptoms or contraction of COVID-19 and posts encouraging attacks on 5G masts.”

as for the encrypted messaging service Whatsapp, the spokesperson said moves were being made “to reduce and address virality on the platform” including reducing users’ capacity to forward messages to large numbers of people.

Twitter, which has previously announced taking action against misleading and harmful content about the illness, and youtube, which has banned all conspiracy theory videos falsely linking coronavirus symptoms to 5G networks, has not responded for any comment but we can believe that they are working on it too!

A Wake-up Call!

Despite of all these efforts and moves, the misinformation continues to spread online, raising the spectre of official public health guidance aimed at curbing COVID-19 falling on deaf ears, with possibly fatal consequences.

This situation is not only making living difficult but also complicating matters further for tech giants’ decisions to censor inaccurate content linked to COVID-19 risks feeding into the narrative that conspiracy theories have in the first place.

Supposedly, when they will get close to the truth, the establishment will react.

Clearly, this is not something we can ignore, and it is a matter of fear till effective response can be find. We will see a breakout into at least some significant public disobedience.

Tides can be turned! ■

pahi@mymobile.co.in