As countries across the world
are in a personal battle against the
COVID-19 pandemic, its people are
battling an issue of their own too. This
is because, as we struggle with the
impact of COVID-19, we are becoming
more vulnerable to the news or any
pandemic related information as well.
The issue with “infodemic” is that it has
caused countless cases of false rumors
regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, it
got worse when conspiracy theorists
decided to get on board.
This has contributed to some cases
of panic attacks in these troubled times
due to unverified and false messages
which have been spreading among the
masses. This will have a devastating
effect in the near future. Now that
the world is in a weird place where
everyone is on the edge of anxiety, it
causes people to be more receptive to
the wrong information.
Thus, this ‘infodemic’ crisis makes
it difficult for people to seek out reliable
resources to get clear information,
especially on social media as it is the
main source of information to some
people. However, it is also the home of
many fake news. Regardless, rumors
can have positive effects too when it
ends up being true.
However, when rumors turn out to
be fake it makes us acutely vulnerable
during times of crisis. Due to its
inherent and persistent uncertainty, the
COVID-19 pandemic may be a perfect
storm for the spread of misinformation.
Therefore, obtaining information
via the web and social media tools
without checking whether it’s correct
or not may affect people’s mental wellbeing
negatively including one’s daily
lives, and behaviors.
When it comes to fighting false
information, one, among the foremost
effective approaches is by removing
the economic incentives for traffickers
of misinformation. Tons of faux news is
financially motivated, these spammers
make money by masquerading fake
news as legitimate and posting hoaxes
that get people to go to their sites,
which are often mostly ads.
In the case of social media such
as Twitter and Facebook, some people
would even go out of their way to
spread false news with hopes that they
will get ‘likes’ ‘retweet’ or attention
from the public.
Next, since some misinformed
news may have already reached a
wide audience, try to avoid drawing
additional attention to it. This helps to
avoid spreading more and attract other
people’s attention to read it. Why give
it more oxygen than it deserves?
At any rate, if the false information
has reached the stage at which it requires
debunking, be sure to ask experts and
trusted sources, before stating the truth.
On the same note, it would be
good for social media platforms to start
disabling likes, shares, or retweets
for particular posts. This might really
help people from spreading even
more false news. Plus, banning users
who repeatedly misinform others
would be beneficial because it lessens
the spreading of inaccurate news or
information in the future.
Fighting an ‘infodemic can be done
if more people take accuracy seriously.
So, before sharing something, think
twice about where it came from, always
verify the source, double-check with
other independent sources, and report
suspicious contents. Now, more than
ever, we need information that we can
trust.
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