Nonsense circulated online is costing lives

During the unprecedented crisis our country is facing, the need for accurate, verifiable information about Covid-19 has never been more critical.

Last week, the Prime Minister’s address to the nation instructing us to stay at home to save lives was one of the most watched moments in television history, with at least 27million of us tuning in. The country’s news media – broadcast, print and online – is fulfilling a vital role ensuring people receive accurate and timely health advice from the NHS and Public Health England during the pandemic. We cannot take that for granted on social media.

Here, it is much easier for fake news, hoax theories and pseudoscience to spread which will harm people if they take it seriously. We need people to follow the instructions of experts so we can reduce the infection rate and protect the NHS. Misleading information about coronavirus online, maliciously intended or not, could cost lives.

I’m not going to sit by and let that happen. In order to respond to the current situation, my team at the DCMS pulled together a unit of experts across Government and the tech sector to lead the fight against fake news – and I’ve trebled its size in the past week as that battle intensifies.

We’re working around the clock to build up a picture of inaccurate news stories and posts online. This helps inform the Government’s response at every level, with us regularly updating the Prime Minister and COBRA on social media trends and risks.

Our counter-disinformation unit has seen completely unfounded posts shared on social media. One told people that gargling warm water could kill the virus, with this advice purportedly from the Stanford Hospital Board. We know that some people are inadvertently spreading false information such as this thinking it’s based on science or from official sources. And we know that some of these posts have been reaching audiences in their thousands.

Up to 70 incidents a week of false narratives are being identified and resolved through the Government’s own Rapid Response Unit which issues swift rebuttals. And we’re working closely with social media platforms to help them identify and take action to remove dangerous, incorrect claims about the virus, and suspend the accounts of people who wilfully post and share it.

This is a tougher challenge on private messaging apps, such as Whatsapp or imessage, where it’s harder to see the scale and scope of disinformation disseminated.

We will all be relying on social media in the coming weeks to keep us connected. As that happens, it is vital that we keep an eye on the information we are bombarded with and don’t take it all at face value.

The Government and our health experts will give you up-to-date, accurate guidance as fast and as clearly as we can to protect the NHS and save lives. Nonsense spread online could cost lives: be sceptical, and always double check before sharing.