Heather Owen and Jason Allsopp: Fake news clouds an already cloudy time – Vancouver Sun

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Opinion: Leger survey 24per centof British Columbiansindicatethey can't tell the difference between real and fake COVID-19 news.

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This pandemic is a health crisis, an economic crisis and a social crisis and we are all seeking assurance on what we should do to protect ourselves, as well as anticipating what we can expect in future.

Every online search that includes the phrase COVID-19 delivers mountains of information, including credible information and misinformation. At first blush, they look largely the same. A recent Leger survey showed that 76 per cent of British Columbians feel they can differentiate between real and fake COVID news.

Fake news generally circulated via social-media channels is misleading claims deliberately designed to feel like legitimate news. Almost more confusing, the phrase fake news is also used to delegitimize credible news stories that individuals like Donald Trump disagree with. Both flavours of fake news can increase anxiety.

Legitimate news can be identified based on the presence of a few key elements: media outlets with a balanced editorial staff, credible sources and/or empirical data such as public opinion polls. Our survey asked 1,002 British Columbians to look at several COVID-19 statements and tell us if they were true or false.

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Looking at the results, we noted that two groups are significantly more likely to believe the false statements: people with children in their household and men between ages 18 and 34.

Of all the statements we shared, not one was so obviously fake that no respondents called it true in fact, three per cent of British Columbians told us they believe that injecting bleach can kill COVID-19. Other examples of false statements B.C.ers identified as true include: COVID-19 death rates are inflated (19 per cent); if youre fully vaccinated, you can travel anywhere you want (13 per cent); the increased cost of lumber is a result of toilet-paper hoarding (10 per cent); and COVID-19 isnt real (four per cent).

As for the true statements we tested: 92 per cent of us know that COVID-19 is caused by a virus, not bacteria; 84 per cent know that all British Columbians 12-years-and-older can book a vaccine appointment and 65 per cent of us know that most people who die of COVID-19 are older.

This pandemic story is one that is still unfolding and what we know to be true today may change as our governments and respected health groups share new information. This shifting landscape means we all must think critically about when we can and should accept something as fact.

A constant dynamic during the pandemic is that what we knew to be true yesterday isnt necessarily still true today. In recent weeks, the previous fake COVID lab leak theory was shared as a possible truth by credible sources, including the WHO. When we asked respondents about the statement COVID-19 was started in a lab, 25 per cent said its true. Thats a fair answer, given that we didnt have a maybe option.

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Thirty per cent of people also checked the true box for the statement: Facebook is monitoring all posts to ensure that COVID-19 news is real. While the larger social-media platforms are doing a lot to remove false information, they cant do it all for us. As individuals, its our responsibility to seek relevant information to navigate this complex time. One of the best things we can do to is make efforts to ensure that the information we trust is true today.

Heather Owen and Jason Allsopp are both vice-presidents in Legers Vancouver office. The survey data is from Legers B.C. Omnibus Study, conducted from May 21-23 among 1,002 British Columbians. For more information, visit leger360.com.

Leger invites you to participate in future public opinion surveys herehttps://special.legeropinion.com/index.asp?L=EN&AffCode=SDIOHB&AffSub=june2021&utm_campaign=postmedia_june2021

Letters to the editor shouldbe sent tosunletters@vancouversun.com.The editorial pages editor is Hardip Johal, who can be reached athjohal@postmedia.com.

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Heather Owen and Jason Allsopp: Fake news clouds an already cloudy time - Vancouver Sun