The researchers – from various institutions in Bangladesh, Australia, Thailand and Japan – define a “rumor” as any unverified information that can be found to be true, fabricated, or completely false after verification. “Stigma” in relation to discrimination as devaluation of a group and “conspiracy theory” was defined as belief about an individual as a group of people working secretly to achieve evil goals.
The researchers identified 2,311 reports related to possible Covid-19 misinformation in 25 languages from 87 countries – and of those reports, 89% were classified as rumors; 7.8% were collusion theories; and 3.5% were stigma.
The study included some examples: “Poultry eggs are infected with coronavirus” and “Drinking bleach can kill the virus” were rumored; “Every disease has ever come from China” was stigma; and “It’s a bio-weapon funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to boost fax sales” was a conspiracy theory.
Most of the rumors, stigma and conspiracy theories were identified from India, the United States, China, Spain, Indonesia and Brazil, the researchers found.
The analysis found that 24% of the reports were generally related to Covid-19 disease, deaths and transmission of the coronavirus; 21% were related to control attempts; 19% after treatment as “cured”; 15% to the cause of the disease and the origin of the virus; 1% to violence; and 20% were considered different.
Such misinformation can lead to injuries and deaths, the researchers noted in the study.
‘Rumors can disguise themselves as credible strategies for preventing infection and control and have potentially serious implications if prioritized over evidence-based guidelines. For example, a popular myth that consumption of highly concentrated alcohol could disinfect the body and kill the virus circulated in various parts of’. the world, “the researchers wrote.
“According to this misinformation, about 800 people have died while 5,876 are in hospital and 60 have developed complete blindness after drinking methanol as a cure for coronavirus.”
The study had some limitations, including that the data came from publicly available online platforms – so there could be more inaccurate information.
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