The COVID-19 "Infodemic"- Fatal Misinformation Spread in a Time of Uncertainty
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all aspects of life. In no way more obvious than social media usage. The pandemic has impacted all walks of life. Celebrities, politicians and the general population have shifted their use of social media. With the introduction of social distancing, social media became a much more important place and surpassed the basic interactions on platforms. Without social media, the COVID-19 pandemic would have ripped interpersonal connections apart. With some unable to see friends and family for an extended period of time, social media kept us together and allowed relationships to be maintained. Social media was not only a place to stay in touch with each-other, it was also an amazing place to take your mind off of the uncertainty of the pandemic. COVID-19 united the world, as we were all facing the same difficulty of staying healthy in a global pandemic.“
“We’re not just fighting an epidemic; we’re fighting an infodemic”
Furthermore, social media was a place to seek information on the current state of the coronavirus in the world. While information was being spread at a rapid pace, misinformation was also making its rounds. Rumors and questionable information were able to be spread at a much higher rate due to social media, influencing social behaviors regarding the virus. “The information spreading can strongly influence people behavior and alter the effectiveness of the countermeasures deployed by governments.” With direct access to every newsgatherer on social media platforms, such as Twitter, the saturation of content was at times too much to handle. Moreover, the use of algorithms on social media gave individuals thoughts and ideas that they could easily agree with, even if the information wasn’t necessarily true. “Across two studies with more than 1,700 U.S. adults recruited online, we present evidence that people share false claims about COVID-19 partly because they simply fail to think sufficiently about whether or not the content is accurate when deciding what to share.” With how easy it is to spread information on social media and the amount of information being released, the COVID-19 pandemic was amplified on all platforms. The tech industry was fully aware of the misinformation being spread on their applications and acted in a timely manner. Today, if you open Instagram, you will see links to World Health Organization websites attached to any post mentioning COVID-19. This effort was made by the WHO in February, 2020 before the peak of the pandemic. The U.N. agency teamed up with over 40 tech companies to help disseminate facts, minimize the spread of false information and remove misleading posts.
Harvard professor of health communication Vish Viswanath said,"The WHO deserves credit for recognizing that the sheer flood of misinformation — the infodemic — is a problem and for trying to do something about it," he says. "But the tech sector has not been particularly helpful in stemming the tide of misinformation.” The problem arises with the late reactions from platforms. For example, in October, President Donald Trump said on Twitter that he was immune from COVID-19 after he had the virus. According to the CDC: "There is no firm evidence that the antibodies that develop in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection are protective." Twitter removed the post after being flagged by fact-checkers. Unfortunately, the post was already shared with his millions of followers and reached countless others before it was labeled as false information. Professor Viswanath further went on to say that even with a link to credible sources attached to the post, many will not take the time to learn the verified information. Big tech companies such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and even Tinder have “more information” labels spread throughout their sites. If you search on Google anything related to COVID-19 you will be first met with links providing reliable information from WHO and the CDC. What was once a source of anxiety for many has been met with accountability from social media platforms. While the world is still battling misinformation with COVID-19, health organizations and big tech companies are teaming up to slow down fake news. There is more that can be done but they are continuing to fight our second biggest battle besides COVID-19, fake news. Most young individuals get their information from social media. We must hold big tech accountable for the information spread on their sites. It is impossible and unfair to moderate the amount of information being spread, but it is their job to flag possible false info immediately. Misinformation and conspiracies regarding COVID-19 have been removed from Facebook and Instagram. Free speech must be protected but dangerous and potentially fatal dishonesties must be removed to protect all those susceptible to the novel coronavirus.
Works cited
Cinelli, Matteo, and Walter Quattrociocchi. “The COVID-19 Social Media Infodemic.” ARXIV, Mar. 2020, arxiv.org/pdf/2003.05004.pdf.
Gharib, Malaka. “WHO Is Fighting False COVID Info On Social Media. How's That Going?” NPR, NPR, 9 Feb. 2021, www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/02/09/963973675/who-is-fighting-false-covid-info-on-social-media-hows-that-going.
Pennycook G;McPhetres J;Zhang Y;Lu JG;Rand DG; “Fighting COVID-19 Misinformation on Social Media: Experimental Evidence for a Scalable Accuracy-Nudge Intervention.” Psychological Science, U.S. National Library of Medicine, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32603243/.
Schulman, Roy, and David Siman-Tov. From Biological Weapons to Miracle Drugs: Fake News about the Coronavirus Pandemic. The Institute for National Security Studies, www.inss.org.il/publication/coronavirus-and-fake-news/.
Smith, Adam. “Facebook and Instagram to Limit Coronavirus Misinformation.” Entrepreneur, www.entrepreneur.com/article/345770.