COVID-19 Fake News

According to a 2016 Pew survey, a fourth of Americans have shared fake news at one point or another,  so it's important to be skeptical as you're browsing Facebook or watching TV. 

False information about the pandemic is rampant leading to a massive ‘infodemic’ - an over-abundance of information – some accurate and some not – that makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it.  Here’s how experts say you can identify what news to trust and what might be faulty. 

In mid-February, World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told an international security conference: “We’re not just fighting an epidemic. We’re fighting an infodemic.” If you’ve found yourself unsure whether a soundbite or headline you saw or shared was true, know that you’re not alone. But it’s easy to fight misinformation, too: Simply taking a moment to pause and assess the accuracy of the information you’re spreading helps.  Methods to Verify Digital Information: 

1. Check the Source: Google the source to verify it is a legitimate news organization.    TIP: The site “Media Bias/Fact Check” rates various news organizations on “factual reporting” as well as ideological skew.

2. Check the Author: Consider whether the writer is a coronavirus or pandemic expert or just a scientist in a related field. If the author is a journalist, check to see what their usual beat is. Is this a health reporter with experience covering scientific topics?

3. Practice Lateral Reading: Practice what communication scholars call “lateral reading” and gather information from a variety of diverse news sources. If a certain conclusion appears repeatedly in different reliable sources, that should increase your confidence in it.

4. Research Videos, Images, and Charts: For an image or video try running the photo or a video frame through a reverse image search tool like Google Images. Seek out context for charts or infographics. Look for an explanation of the graphic from a reputable source, read the axis labels carefully, see where the data depicted came from and pay attention to the units of measurement. 

5. Anecdotes are not Data: Be wary of treating one person or one healthcare worker’s experience as concrete fact.

6. The Date Matters: Check when the story was published. Especially for COVID-19 information, the date the information was published matters. Facts and figures are changing daily as the pandemic progresses. 

What should I do if someone in my social circle shares information I know is false? Be kind!  Your friend, acquaintance or family member is likely well intentioned and anxious about the disease, just like you. Gently correct them and direct them to a credible source You might phrase a polite correction like this: “I understand that this is scary and we’re all looking for solutions, but the best evidence is…” Avoid restating the myth—you don’t want bad information circulating any further. What should I do if I accidentally share inaccurate information? If you realize you’ve already shared misinformation, you should self-correct, ideally by deleting the original, inaccurate statement and create a new post, email or text—whichever platform you originally shared it on—with the accurate information. Alternatively, you can prominently update your original post with the correction, although people may not see the updated version on their feeds.