Tackling Fake News during the Corona Pandemic

How the Internet Giants can step up their response

The Problem

Over the past couple of months, the Internet has been flooded by fake news and conspiracy theories regarding the coronavirus. We have all seen claims that the virus was intentionally developed by Bill Gates for personal profit, or that medical professionals from Europe and North America are using the situation to test harmful vaccines on African populations, or that the virus does not even exist, but is a story fabricated by the supposed “deep state” as a premise to exert ever more control over its helpless citizens (I will not reference the original sources, since I don’t want to contribute to the spread of misinformation).

Despite the obvious absurdity of such claims, we appear to be reaching a new low in terms of how widespread (geographically) such content is being shared, and in terms of the actual physical harm it is causing, right now, to real people and communities all over the world.

Photo by Cottonbro from Pexels

Certain states are using this misinformation for their own political goals, “content creators” are using it to amass easy ad revenue, and “bored teenagers” may be using it simply to have their moment of Internet fame. Obviously these actors are, in part, to blame for the consequences. Tackling the issue at the source, by fining or jailing peddlers of corona-related fake news (legislation currently being considered or implemented in the Philippines, South Africa and the Serb Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina), is an approach which must be used with caution, but which deserves further assessment regarding its efficacy. However, we should also consider how such harmful content reaches an audience in the billions in the first place.

This is where the Internet Giants come into play.

Fake news is by no means a new phenomenon, and following public outcry and intense political pressure in the past, companies such as Google, Facebook and Twitter have started to tackle the issue. Over the past weeks, these corporations have received praise for their decisive response to the influx of corona-related misinformation, and, apparently, rightfully so: Internet users in North America and Western Europe are indeed seeing significantly less corona-related fake news than one might expect if no action had been taken. As such, any effort that has already been made, is of course commendable.

Nevertheless, all of the examples of fake news mentioned in the introduction above are from articles that I came across while going about my daily business online. Today, when I open my Google News Feed or go on my Facebook Wall, I see such fake news presented to me as recommended reading or viewing. Let me repeat: it is not being sent to me by poorly informed friends or family members, it is being recommended to me as “interesting content” by the Internet Giants who, in practice, are the gatekeepers of what we collectively see on the World Wide Web every day.

Photo by Kayla Velasquez on Unsplash

This is just one user’s experience - browsing the web from Belgium - but this experience is reflected in user surveys in other high-income countries. Although we currently lack good country-level data for most of Africa, Asia and Latin America, anecdotal evidence - including from contacts of mine in Rwanda, Bangladesh and Argentina - suggests that the situation is significantly worse in middle- and low-income countries. At present some of the most problematic platforms appear to be YouTube (one conspiracy video on the origins of the coronavirus racked up over 13 million views in India, before being removed), WhatsApp (users can share content with groups of up to 256 people, and the spread of fake news is harder to track due to message encryption) and private Facebook groups.

Clearly, more can, and should be done. Thousands of preventable corona deaths, widespread mistrust in legitimate governments trying their best to tackle the crisis, a further erosion of confidence in real science and experts. This is what is at stake if we do not step up our response.