Covid-19 and Fake News: Exponential Rise of Conspiracy Theories and How to Prevent Misinformation – BBN Times

Fake news has repeatedly undermined efforts to protect people from the coronavirus pandemic.

Those who mainly get their news or information from social media are more likely to believe falsehoods about Covid-19.

Many people share fake news on social media because theyre simply not paying attention to whether the content is accurate, not necessarily because they cant differentiate between real from made-up news.

The current design of social media platforms in which users scroll quickly through a mix of emotionally driven, engaging and serious content, and receiveinstantaneous quantified social feedback on their sharing via likes, comments and shares may discourage people from reflecting on accuracy.

People sharing harmful anti-vaccine content have grown significantly during the covid-19 pandemic.

Social media accounts promoting false information about vaccines saw a boost in followers in France, India, Canada, USA, Brazil, Ukraine, Kenya and Tanzania.

Vaccine misinformation appears to mainly spread in groups where a range of topics such as health, religion, politics and conspiracy theories are discussed.

Covid-19 Vaccine | Sarah Tew/CNET

2021 saw a noticeable rise in misleading claims and conspiracy theories about vaccines.

Anti-vaccine content is largely driven by individuals promoting traditional medicine.

Groups opposing vaccines are small in size, but their online-communications strategies are worryingly effective and far-reaching.

There is also a political and nationalistic dimension to online debates about vaccination in some countries, which often spark misleading claims about foreign vaccines. Anti-vaccine movement is undermining scientific efforts to end the covid-19 pandemic.

1. Read a variety of sources2. Fact check any claim with statistics3. Don't get your news from social media4. Avoid politically driven and unbiased content5. Develop a critical mindset and don't share content that you don't know6. Check the source and who is reporting the story7. Don't take images and videos at face value8. Examine the evidence and check if it sounds right.

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Covid-19 and Fake News: Exponential Rise of Conspiracy Theories and How to Prevent Misinformation - BBN Times