Fighting the coronavirus means fighting misinformation, too

If it was already true that a lie can fly halfway around the world before the truth can put on its shoes, imagine the accelerating effects of a pandemic that sends millions inside and online, hostile foreign powers keen to sow disruption, and tech platforms with a spotty record on moderating speech. Since the covid-19 outbreak began, bogus cures and a litany of false claims have flooded the Internet, making clear that the fight against the novel coronavirus also entails a fight against misinformation.

Coronavirus misinformation is taking many forms, which are dangerous in different ways.

Most alarming is advice that would lead to direct harm if followed, such as directions to drink bleach or expose yourself to very hot temperatures to kill the virus. Also concerning is material that undermines official public health guidance, such as a recent viral video that suggested wearing a mask “activates your own virus.” (Facebook and YouTube have removed the clip.)

So far, Facebook has focused on removing false content that could lead to imminent physical harm. These measures haven’t been enough to keep coronavirus misinformation off the platform, though, in all fairness,

Facebook is working with a reduced workforce. The company sent many employees home in March to slow the spread of coronavirus, including content moderators, many of whom cannot do their work from home. Although Facebook has diverted some in-office employees to content moderation and is using artificial intelligence to flag content that violates its policies, dangerous content is still getting through, and other troubling content is on the rise.

Other tech companies are responding with new measures. Google is stepping up its process of verifying advertisers, with special measures for regulated industries such as health care and medicine. Facebook-owned WhatsApp is restricting highly forwarded messages to try to slow rapidly spreading misinformation.

Confronting the massive amount of quickly moving coronavirus misinformation is challenging enough without President Trump exacerbating matters by endorsing unproven and often dangerous advice. A man in Phoenix died after ingesting fish tank cleaner that contained chloroquine, a chemical that Mr. Trump touted as a possible coronavirus treatment. After the president suggested that ingesting disinfectants could be effective against the virus, poison control centers in several states saw spikes in calls from people reporting disinfectant exposure.

Even if Mr. Trump could be persuaded to stop promoting potentially lethal solutions, people would manage to generate and spread misinformation. We shouldn’t aim to prevent every false or misleading word about the virus from being spoken; even if that were possible, it wouldn’t be a good use of resources. Rather, we must aim to amplify clear, scientifically informed messages from credible sources, and to make sure that misinformation — wherever it comes from — gets as little airtime as possible.