Mission to Mitigate: A Harm to Health 'Infodemic'

Covid-19 can be said to have contributed to a new insurgence of misinformation and disinformation due to the sheer volume of misinformed posts about a range of issues relating to the pandemic. Following on from our last blog post we do realise that some of the examples mentioned may not seem so harmful and you may be questioning whether or not the misinformed posts during the pandemic were indeed as bad as people made out. So, for this post we want to address this with a better explanation.

Firstly, whilst some instances where misinformed posts were harmful to the public we do recognise and admit that not all information was posted with the intent of deceiving or harming. Right now it has to be said that not all misinformed posts can be classed or considered as disinformation. During the pandemic there was so many instances of overlapping guidance, guidance not properly explained, guidance changing and becoming effective was a very regular occurrence, information being left out due to having no answers and many more changes. As previously stated, the pandemic was unfamiliar to us all – it was something very few to no one had ever experienced and this meant trying to deal with it was a lot harder than other situations. Guidance did have to be updated regularly to keep up with the science relating to the virus. This meant that people were unsure of what the current guidance was and if they happened to share what they thought was guidance when it was no longer the case then that person unfortunately misinformed others. Many people did this to help others but unfortunately due to the climate present it was bound to happen. Even the rapid changing pace of the virus meant that it took time to identify the cause before the world began experiencing the virus and this opened the opportunity to speculate the cause and misinform others. Even when posts were intent with deceiving others there was only a small proportion of people behind the posts. The Center for Countering Digital Hate found that only 12 influencers were responsible for two thirds of anti-vaccination propaganda.

But how can the decisions made by people for their own health be affected by such posts? Professor Larson explains, “Health-related misinformation is particularly dangerous because it affects health decisions and health behaviours. This is quite serious and, in the context of a pandemic, it’s even more serious because it’s not just about your own health decision and behaviour – it affects groups of people.”

That quote sums up why we are pushing to make people aware of this issue – it impacts too many people and produce harmful behaviours or decisions.

While many people were all for the vaccine and even vaccination in a more general sense, there are still many people who may be hesitant or frightened and by publishing false information relating to the vaccine online it could be the one thing these people needed to decide not to take the vaccine which puts both themselves and others at risk. Even more so, these misinformed or disinformed posts can undermine government decisions at a time of need as well as affect our ability as citizens to make informed choices about our own health.

So what can be done to help? Professor Larson recommends spreading messages about positive health. Spreading the better story alongside the correct information to enforce a positive reaction to our own health. We of course need to also rely on government officials, organisations (health and others), communities, individuals and tech companies to all be involved in tackling this issue. Government officials creating and enforcing online safety bills with full backing to set out guidance for online organisations to follow is a good starting point and we are keeping tabs on the UK Government’s Bill as it currently is being tweaked with full optimism that they will deliver.

Covid-19 was unfortunately a situation where misinformed posts, mainly due to speculation, was rife. We now know how easy it is for these posts to spread but we do also know the harm that people are being exposed to so now we must do something. We need you and we hope that we have somewhat convinced you that action must be taken.