Fake news, and its fatal consequences (original) (raw)
Fakenews or Infodemic during COVID-19 Pandemic
Assam Tribune, 2020
In view of the ongoing corona virus outbreak how do you assess the impact of misinformation in public domain? With the outbreak of COVID-19, misinformation in the public domain becomes an infodemic, i.e. pandemic of incorrect information, posing great risks to global health. Misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theory claim that nCoronavirus is a bio-weapon, a spy operation, a medico-business strategy, a population scheme or a religious mission. It cannot be denied that a sea of misinformation on social media platforms regarding prevention, treatment, vaccination, self-medication, etc. to fight the virus has become a matter of serious concern. But, it is also true that statements like cow-urine as a possible cure for COVID19 from the law-makers of the state and then being covered by media beyond the national boundaries can spread misinformation too.
Impact of Fake News and Myths Related to COVID-19
Journal of Content Community and Communication, 2020
With the advent of the internet and the subsequent increase in use and accessibility, the social media networks have particularly emphasised in terms of the news being shred online. However, this has caused a drastic change in the assessment and obtaining of the real information. Hence, this paper has aimed to assess the impacts of fake news and myths regarding the novel Covid-19 pandemic. Through the systematic review of the related studies and support through relevant literature, the findings of the research include various harmful impacts of the notion. This ranges from small impacts such as spread of misinformation to more sinister impacts such as the wrongful utilisation of drugs for curing the disease. Moreover, the paper also mentions the various motives behind the spread of such false information, primarily fuelled by collecting monetary benefits in terms of digital marketing, etc. Overall, the study concludes the impacts of spread of fake news and myths are generally harmfu...
COVID-19, a tale of two pandemics: novel coronavirus and fake news messaging
Health Promotion International
Summary The emergence of COVID-19, caused by novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, became a pandemic in just 10 weeks. Without effective medications or vaccines available, authorities turned toward mitigation measures such as use of face masks, school’s closings, shelter-in-place, telework and social distancing. People found refuge on the internet and social media apps; however, there was a proliferation of instant messaging containing hoaxed, deliberate misleading information: fake news messaging (FNM). The aim of this study was to assess FNM through content analysis and to discriminate them in a proposed taxonomy structure. A sample of convenience of messages, memes, tweets or cartoons in several languages was selected from the most popular social media outlets, i.e. Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter etc. More than 300 FNM were identified. Descriptive statistics were used for highlighting potential relationships between variables. Content analysis determined that FNM could be divided into Healt...
Pandemic and Infodemic – Which One Is More Dangerous?
Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Communicatio
This article examines the relationship between social sustainability and the fake news phenomenon in the light of the COVID-19 epidemic. Using existing statistical data and relevant media-related concepts, it compares the harmful impacts of the pandemic and the accompanying infodemic. The problem can be placed among the components of hybrid warfare. Examples, statistics, and research on COVID-19-related fake news are discussed with a focus on efforts for building resilience against fake news.
Fakenews Infodemic during COVID-19 Pandemic
Assam Tribune, 2020
With the outbreak of COVID-19, misinformation in the public domain becomes an infodemic, i.e. pandemic of incorrect information, posing great risks to global health. Misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theory claim that nCoronavirus is a bio-weapon, a spy operation, a medico-business strategy, a population scheme or a religious mission. It cannot be denied that a sea of misinformation on social media platforms regarding prevention, treatment, vaccination, self-medication, etc. to fight the virus has become a matter of serious concern. But, it is also true that statements like cow-urine as a possible cure for COVID19 from the law-makers of the state and then being covered by media beyond the national boundaries can spread misinformation too. Dutta, A. (2020, April 5). Sanitize your minds, Check fake news: Face to Face with P J Baruah. The Assam Tribune, p. 4.
Encyclopedia, 2021
COVID-19 can be defined as a global pandemic caused by a coronavirus that first surfaced in 2019. Fake news refers to false reports that can be found in digital media. The combination of these two concepts creates an especially mismanaged situation that can result in widespread unease among the population, to whom the news appears continuously and without quality filters.
Social Media and Fake News on Corona Virus: A Review of Literature
Nnamdi Azikiwe University Journal of Communication and Media Studies
Social media is the 21st-century media that has given every user an equal opportunity to publish news without passing through any form of gatekeeping, editorial, or professional scrutiny. This means that it has become a natural home for the spread of fake news even on the recent coronavirus with its consequent health implications. The authors deployed available materials and literature to discuss the burning issues surrounding fake news as misleading information on social media, especially how social media has become a natural home for fake news on coronavirus. More so, this paper reviewed the literature on the effects of fake news on coronavirus and then motivations for sharing fake news online as a way to provide a start-off point for an understanding of why social media misinformation on Corona virus has spread. The authors concluded by presenting a gap in literature, in addition to a research agenda for studies on the spread of health-related disinformation in Nigeria.
2021
A hoax is a falsehood deliberately fabricated to masquerade as the truth. Their origin is uncertain and behind them often hides "the compensation of a frustrated desire of someone or a social group, the need to make public the confidentiality of interests that upset the established order, misunderstandings or distorted interpretations" (Kapferer, 1988, p.18). Fake news is false or misleading information presented as news and develops shared complicity because people do not usually question messages that come from their intimate circle. The main objective of this research is to identify the origin of fake news published in Spain related to COVID-19, for that, we opted for a quantitative methodology that allows us to explore features and useful aspects for their detection and providing empirical evidence regarding misinformation. The results show that as Thucydides announced in the 5 Century a. C. in this war against misinformation two main reasons motivate the origin of the...
Journal of Public Health
Purpose As the new coronavirus disease propagated around the world, the rapid spread of news caused uncertainty in the population. False news has taken over social media, becoming part of life for many people. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate, through a systematic review, the impact of social media on the dissemination of infodemic knowing and its impacts on health. Methods A systematic search was performed in the MedLine, Virtual Health Library (VHL), and Scielo databases from January 1, 2020, to May 11, 2021. Studies that addressed the impact of fake news on patients and healthcare professionals around the world were included. It was possible to methodologically assess the quality of the selected studies using the Loney and Newcastle-Ottawa Scales. Results Fourteen studies were eligible for inclusion, consisting of six cross-sectional and eight descriptive observational studies. Through questionnaires, five studies included measures of anxiety or psychological distress caused by misinformation; another seven assessed feeling fear, uncertainty, and panic, in addition to attacks on health professionals and people of Asian origin. Conclusion By analyzing the phenomenon of fake news in health, it was possible to observe that infodemic knowledge can cause psychological disorders and panic, fear, depression, and fatigue.
An Analysis of the Academic Literature on Fake News During COVID-19 Pandemic
Journal of Contemporary Social Science Research, 2020
Covid-19-related fake news has brought many negative impacts in the global community in many different aspects. The spread of the novel coronavirus which initially started in 2019, and that later was announced as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO), has resulted in the emergence of infodemic causing difficulties to governments and subjects. This study was carried out to identify the subject areas of research ever conducted which related to fake news on Covid-19 and the impacts caused by this false information phenomenon. Literature analysis of documents published in the SCOPUS online database has been conducted and it was found that previous research on Covid-19-related misinformation occurred in multiple subject areas of which are prominent in the medicine and social sciences field. The impact of this infodemic ranges from health, political, legal, and other social effects. It can be concluded that in order to minimise the confusion and risks of the infodemic, the digital and health literacy of the citizen has to be improved, apart from the government responsibilities and social media providers monitoring and controlling the dissemination of falsehood and rumours among various parties.
Social Implications of Infodemic Concurrent with COVID-19
Polish Political Science Yearbook
The scale of disinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic has been called infodemic. It involved disseminating various messages and theories that had a significant negative impact on limiting the spread of the disease but also exacerbated existing social antagonisms and emboldened and radicalised fringe groups. Infodemic, to a large extent manifested in social media, also fostered the formalisation of denialist circles, who transferred their sometimes very aggressive sentiments from the web to the real world. Negation and contestation of the pandemic were partly born spontaneously but were also created as part of postmodern hybrid activities. Consequently, narratives of infodemic led to difficulties in functioning health services, but above all, to an increase in morbidity and mortality related to COVID-19. The consequences of the infodemic would also include various economic effects, such as increased medical expenses for unvaccinated people or turbulence in the labour market.
An exploration of how fake news is taking over social media and putting public health at risk
Health Information & Libraries Journal, 2020
Recent statistics show that almost 1/4 of a million people have died and four million people are affected either with mild or serious health problems caused by coronavirus (COVID-19). These numbers are rapidly increasing (World Health Organization, May 3, 2020c). There is much concern during this pandemic about the spread of misleading or inaccurate information. This article reports on a small study which attempted to identify the types and sources of COVID-19 misinformation. The authors identified and analysed 1225 pieces of COVID-19 fake news stories taken from fact-checkers, myth-busters and COVID-19 dashboards. The study is significant given the concern raised by the WHO Director-General that 'we are not just fighting the pandemic, we are also fighting infodemic'. The study concludes that the COVID-19 infodemic is full of false claims, half backed conspiracy theories and pseudoscientific therapies, regarding the diagnosis, treatment, prevention, origin and spread of the virus. Fake news is pervasive in social media, putting public health at risk. The scale of the crisis and ubiquity of the misleading information require that scientists, health information professionals and journalists exercise their professional responsibility to help the general public identify fake news stories. They should ensure that accurate information is published and disseminated. J.M.
Fake News Swamping InterpersonalCommunication intheTimes ofCorona Virus
International Journal on Transformations of Media, Journalism & Mass Communication, 2020
In the times of suffering and devastation of Covid-19 where the World is fighting against the deadly virus of Covid-19 and everyone is destitute for survival. Another virus that is spreading more fear in these times is the virus of fake news and misinformation. Humanity is standing at the threshold of bereavement and torment and misinformation is adding on to the distress of human in this hour of grief and anxiety. The news culture of present times where every social media platform, channel, newspaper and each media respectively want to update the World with the latest trends and happening about coronavirus in the respective parts of the country is also becoming the platform for dissemination of disinformation and fake news. Through this study, we will try to understand how fake news is spreading misinformation and diffusing fear among people and society. The paper tries to understand how 24*7 news culture and upsurge of social media is spreading the fear of Covid-19 faster than the virus itself. Through this paper, we would be approximating such instances of fake news and misinformation
Social media and the COVID-19 pandemic: The dilemma of fake news clutter vs. social responsibility
Journal of Arab & Muslim Media Research
This article examines the relationship between fake news and social media as increasingly important sources of news, at a time when mainstream media no longer have exclusive control over news production and dissemination. It has been evident that few media outlets and professionals tend to draw conflicting news about COVID-19 from social media feeds, which are largely produced by common citizens with mostly no journalism training. This pervasive use makes social media key sources to scores of media outlets for news, whether it is related to COVID-19 or public affairs issues, even though it is susceptible to torrents of credibility and accuracy issues. As a result, of the overwhelming spread of fake news on coronavirus, which is contributing to framing events from several angles, media professionals are now obliged to track and vet information circulating on social media. Due to the scale of disinformation spreading on the Web, it has become imperative that the credibility and accura...
Battling Fake News and InSecurity during COVID
E-International Relations, 2020
From the start of the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic the global spread of the virus has been mirrored by a global "infodemic" of false information and fake news spread across new media platforms. Months before mobile phone masts were attacked in the UK, the French ministry of public health tried to refute a rumour that cocaine could cure the virus after this rumour spread across social media in France. This rapid emergence and spread of false information demonstrates worrying connections between public health, security and the prominence of fake news on social media that has long alarmed scholars. Survey results from IPSOS and BuzzFeed News showed that close to 75% of Americans surveyed believed fake news during the 2016 presidential election . While it is not possible to generalise from this specific context such publications demonstrate the dangerous persuasiveness of fake news during important political events. In the UK, during the Grenfell fire (as with the current 5G and COVID-19 conspiracy theories) celebrities and politicians have been means by which rumours have been spread. This is a remarkable volte-face within academia where new media platforms had initially been hailed as a panacea of democratisation and the spreading of liberal freedoms during incidents such as the Arab Spring and the early days of Wikileaks.
Scientific ways to confront covid-19 fake news
Saude E Sociedade, 2022
Parallel to the covid-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization warns of an infodemic of fake news related to the disease. This integrative review investigates the dimension of this phenomenon and how science found ways to confront it. A bibliographic search was conducted on the Scopus/Elsevier and Medline/PubMed databases, retrieving 23 articles. Literature analysis found that fake news provide false social support and mobilize feelings which make them more acceptable than the truth. Hence, social media and the internet emerge as platforms to spread false information. Research suggests that government and media institutions can use communication channels and monitoring and infoveillance technologies as allies to alert, elucidate, and remove misleading content. We find the need of investments in scientific and digital literacy actions so people may assess the quality of the information they receive. Finally, this study proposes the adoption of creative strategies to foster reasoning skills together with scientific information translated into an accessible language, preferably approved by health and institutional authorities.
www.laetusinpraesens.org, 2021
Information theory and cognitive bias? Game theory, hypergames and the role of deception Naivety in acquisition of truth from accredited sources? Identifying information specifically held to be misinformation Misuse use of information by authorities -- as neglected "misinformation"? Pandemic preoccupations eliciting questionable belief -- however erroneous? Checklist of pandemic concerns, whether framed as myths or lies Requisite scientific compilation of pandemic preoccupations Probability approaches to pandemic truth beyond binary fixation Imagining the pandemic as a War of the Worlds Strategic displacement of fearful global preoccupations?