Public distrust hampers Africa fight against virus misinformation
AFRICAN nations fighting the novel coronavirus face a foe as stealthy and dangerous as the microbe itself: misinformation and apathy, fuelled by deep distrust of government.
Bogus news and indifference to official warnings are emerging as giant obstacles in a region where poor healthcare infrastructure, sanitation and overcrowded slums provide fertile ground for COVID-19 to spread.
Africa has recorded nearly 2,800 cases and at least 70 deaths, according to an AFP compilation as of Thursday.
The tally may lag far behind that of other continents, but the World Health Organization (WHO), backed by the top names in medicine, has bluntly
warned: “Prepare for the worst”.
African countries have begun to implement strict rules including lockdowns, curfews and even prison terms for those sharing false claims. But such measures appear futile in stopping the spread of misinformation. “This is a new challenge that we are facing and it’s a big challenge,” South African infectious disease expert Thumbi Ndung’u told AFP.
“If governments are not forthcoming... or seem to be hiding information, then there are people who step into that space and some of those people may not necessarily have good intentions.”
While Facebook has toughened its policy toward those spreading potentially harmful information, Twitter now slaps warning labels on manipulated images or videos.
But many claims in Africa circulate in private groups on the encrypted WhatsApp platform, making it harder to target them.
In South Africa, currently the region’s worst-hit country, misinformation started to circulate long before the first of its more than 700 cases was confirmed. Many viral claims have the potential to cause real-life harm, such as doctored government documents with misleading coronavirus advice.