Covid-19 has taken over the world and with it disinformation, misinformation and hysteria have spread almost as quickly.
On social media especially there has been an eruption of Chinese-whisper style facts circulating. People claiming to know the latest inside scoop through their 'brothers-friends-uncles-ex wife' has left many people wondering who to believe.
News outlets have also been misreporting information. Several rumours emerged from images of Army trucks driving down the motorway to enforce a 'military lockdown in the UK' when, in fact, the trucks were driving on the wrong side of the road, meaning the images were taken from a different country at an unknown time. In France, the government had to assure people that taking cocaine and drinking bleach does not cure Covid-19 despite social media rumours that it did.
This is, of course, not forgetting the storm of false information emanating from Beijing and her proxies as they try to distance themselves from this virus. So far this has amounted to claiming the virus originated in Taiwan, Italy and even the US. Take a look at this for more information.
However, whilst disinformation is often viewed through the prism of geopolitical power politics, we should not overlook the role that science is playing in it's spread.
Science in particular has been struggling with a 'replication crisis' whereby published findings and the results of studies are failing to replicate. Replication is an essential element that solidifies trust in results. Moreover, science can be seen as the foundation of knowledge and what we believe to be true. If increasing amounts of findings do not replicate, the credibility of such findings become weakened.
Indeed, this replication crisis illustrates how careful we have to be. Some scientific research has been tainted by manipulating statistics, academic malpractice and feeding incorrect results to the public. Unfortunately, many of these studies that are unable to replicate are published indicating that the mantle of science does not always equate to fact.
The real issue here though is how these studies can go on to disrupt. An example of this is a 1998 Wakefield study stating results that showed the MMR vaccine was linked to autism causing considerable disruption and distrust in the healthcare system. Crucially this study had no real statistical significance and failed to replicate.
Unfortunately our psychology sets us up very well to be 'willing' receivers of such information.
Humans have a natural confirmation bias where we find evidence that confirms our existing beliefs. We are more likely to believe something if it confirms something we already know and therefore are not likely to check it.
Furthermore, the Dunning-Kruger Effect illustrates how we often think we know more than we do. This results in a lack of fact-checking or not being primed to question what we think we know.
Finally, we also are subject to cognitive dissonance. When new information contradicts our existing beliefs, a mental discomfort arises, and we alter our opinion to lessen the tension.
So what can we do about this?
Fake news is likely to always be circulating and pushed into society, whether it be for propaganda, financial gain or simply by accident.
Many organisations are trying to battle fake news from spreading, especially on social media. The replication crisis is also being battled in many ways to reduce the impact of incorrect or results that do not replicate.
Whilst news outlets, media, and scientific publications have a greater role to play, it is also a social responsibility to fact check and not be a cause of spreading fake news.
We have always had to fight for the truth, today is no different- in order to preserve our shared sense of reality we must all strive to do better.
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