Disinformation : Research

We present and begin to explore a collection of social data that represents part of the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on the United States. This data is collected from a range of sources and includes longitudinal trends of news topics, social distancing behaviors, community mobility changes, web searches, and more. This multimodal effort enables new opportunities for analyzing the impacts such a pandemic has on the pulse of society. Our preliminary results show that the number of COVID-19-related news articles published immediately after the World Health Organization declared the pandemic on March 11, and that since that time have steadily decreased—regardless of changes in the number of cases or public policies. Additionally, we found that politically moderate and scientifically-grounded sources have, relative to baselines measured before the beginning of the pandemic, published a lower pro- portion of COVID-19 news articles than more politically extreme sources. We suggest that further analysis of these multimodal signals could produce meaningful social insights and present an interactive dashboard to aid further exploration.

This study examines the causes and impact of disinformation and propaganda on democracy, human rights and the rule of law within the European Union. It analyses how new technology has transformed the operation and structure of the democratic public sphere in general, and in particular explores the recently experienced events of disinformation and propaganda campaigns in the light of interference with democratic processes through the manipulation of public opinion, as well as the international and national legislative and self-regulatory initiatives (discussed below). Finally, it recommends policy actions to correct those mechanisms that underlie the examined phenomena.

In recent years, mass media and social networks have played an important role in disseminating information regarding public health. During the COVID-19 epidemic, misinformation and fake news have represented an important issue generating confusion and insecurity among the population. In our analysis, we investigate the role of mass media as a critical element during the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak that has influenced the public perception of risk.

The coronavirus pandemic has seen a marked rise in medical disinformation across social media. A variety of claims have garnered considerable traction, including the assertion that COVID is a hoax or deliberately manufactured, that 5G frequency radiation causes coronavirus, and that the pandemic is a ruse by big pharmaceutical companies to profiteer off a vaccine. An estimated 30% of some populations subscribe some form of COVID medico-scientific conspiracy narratives, with detrimental impacts for themselves and others. Consequently, exposing the lack of veracity of these claims is of considerable importance. Previous work has demonstrated that historical medical and scientific conspiracies are highly unlikely to be sustainable. In this article, an expanded model for a hypothetical en masse COVID conspiracy is derived. Analysis suggests that even under ideal circumstances for conspirators, commonly encountered conspiratorial claims are highly unlikely to endure, and would quickly be exposed. This work also explores the spectrum of medico-scientific acceptance, motivations behind propagation of falsehoods, and the urgent need for the medical and scientific community to anticipate and counter the emergence of falsehoods.