Public fear is multiplying because of a lot of news, information, hoaxes, lies and fake news that circulate on social media. The public take it without thinking, without verification or confirmation.
By
LUKI AULIA
·4 minutes read
As the Covid-19 pandemic spreads more quickly, the public is increasingly in fear of the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that causes the disease, especially since there is no vaccine or cure yet.
Fear is multiplying because of a lot of news, information, hoaxes, lies and fake news that circulate on social media. The public take it without thinking, without verification or confirmation and then quickly spread it.
What people tend not to realize is that the unverified information can cause illness or even lead to death. Lately, there have been many claims that certain drugs can cure Covid-19.
There\'s still a disconnect between what people think is true and what people are willing to share
So far, or at least until Sunday (29/3/2020), French news agency AFP has counted at least 200 rumors and myths related to Covid-19. Technology companies are urged to act more decisively to stop misinformation so that it does not spread.
A professor in brain and cognitive sciences at MIT\'s Sloan School of Management, David Rand, explained that people tended to have a bias toward content that they thought would be liked by many people and shared widely. This usually dominates decision making when someone is online.
"There\'s still a disconnect between what people think is true and what people are willing to share," he said.
AP/WILFREDO LEE, FILE
In this 21 Aug. 2018 file photo, a user opens the homepage of the Facebook mobile app on a smartphone in Surfside, Florida. Facebook says that a bug in its anti-spam system is blocking the publication of links to news on the coronavirus.
Part of the reason is that social media algorithms are geared to appeal to someone\'s habits and interests: the emphasis is on likability, not accuracy. Changing that would require Facebook, Twitter and other such companies to alter what people see on screen.
There needs to be an effort, said Rand, who is researching misinformation related to Covid-19, urging people to first consider the accuracy of the content they distribute on social networks.
In a study conducted by Rand on 1,600 participants, it was found that false claims were shared in part simply because people failed to think about whether the content was reliable.
In the second test, when people were reminded to consider the accuracy of the content to be shared, their level of awareness more than doubled. By using this approach called accuracy nudge intervention, social media companies should be able to limit the spread of incorrect, fake and false information.
AP PHOTO/EBRAHIM NOROOZI
A worker in protective gear walks past rows of beds at an emergency hospital in Tehran, Iran. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has set up the hospital in the country’s battle against Covid-19.
Leads to death
Hoax information has been proven to lead to death in many countries. In Iran, for example, many people believed rumors that drinking methanol could cure or prevent Covid-19. As a result, 300 people died and many were sick.
Jason McKnight from the Department of Primary Care and Population Health at Texas A&M University said sharing hoax information had far more dangerous effects than Covid-19 itself. There is a lot of hoax information that mentions treatment or prevention, which is absolutely not proven true.
"There is misleading information about the techniques to prevent people from being infected because it has not been proven. In fact, there are instructions for people to hoard medicine and food," McKnight said.
Hoax information has been proven to lead to death in many countries.
There are two very dangerous risks if you spread hoax information regarding Covid-19. That information will be able to trigger and spread fear and panic and will make people do something that endangers themselves and others. Like the domino effect, other people will do the same thing.
Recognizing the urgency of this issue, Facebook has posted a warning about sharing information about Covid-19 in the headline. They also tried to remove content that was feared to have a negative impact with the help of a third party tasked with checking the facts.
These third parties include media companies including the AFP news agency, Reuters and the Associated Press, which have worked with Facebook to establish a fact checking program.
FACEBOOK
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks at the Facebook Communities Summit 2019. Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Reddit, Twitter, and YouTube have issued a joint statement of cooperation against the spread of misinformation on Covid-19.
There is a proposal to make the hoax content inaccessible to people and if someone tries to share hoax information they will be given an article that explains why the information is inaccurate.
However, a Facebook spokesman did not want to comment on the proposed addition of the warning on Facebook. Neither did a Twitter spokesman.
A study about hoax information was conducted before, when hoax information was rampant during the political campaign season. At that time, the effort to remind people of the accuracy of the information they wanted to share was only an effort to make people more critical before sharing.
Now, a similar thing is recurring during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the impact now is far more dangerous because it is risking the lives of others. So, you should filter before sharing any news or information related to Covid-19. Other people\'s lives depend on it. (AFP)
