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PARIS: As early as February, with the rapid spread of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a warning about an “infodemic,” a wave of fake news and misinformation about the deadly new disease. on social media.
Now, with their hopes pinned on COVID-19 vaccines, WHO and experts warn that those same phenomena may jeopardize the deployment of immunization programs aimed at ending suffering.
“The coronavirus disease is the first pandemic in history in which technology and social media are used on a large scale to keep people safe, informed, productive and connected,” the WHO said.
“At the same time, the technology we rely on to keep us connected and informed is enabling and amplifying an infodemic that continues to undermine the global response and jeopardize measures to control the pandemic.”
More than 1.4 million people have died since the pandemic emerged in China late last year, but three developers are already requesting approval for their vaccines to be used as early as December.
However, beyond logistics, governments must also grapple with skepticism about vaccines developed with record speed at a time when social media has been both an information tool and falsehoods about the virus.
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The WHO defined an infodemic as an overabundance of information, both online and offline, including “deliberate attempts to spread incorrect information.”
Last month, a study by Cornell University in the United States found that the president of the United States, Donald Trump, has been the world’s largest driver of misinformation about COVID-19 during the pandemic.
In April, Trump reflected on the possibility of using disinfectants inside the body to cure the virus and also promoted unproven treatments.
Since January, AFP has published more than 2,000 fact-checking articles dismantling false claims about the coronavirus.
“Without adequate confidence and the correct information, diagnostic tests are not used, immunization campaigns, or campaigns to promote effective vaccines, will not meet their objectives and the virus will continue to thrive,” said WHO.
The World Health Organization and experts warn that misinformation could jeopardize any implementation of immunization programs. (File Photo: AFP / John Cairns)
“UNBEATABLE SCALE”
Three vaccine developers – Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca-Oxford University – are leading the pack, and some governments are already planning to start vaccinating the most vulnerable this year.
But with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and WhatsApp acting as vectors of doubtful facts and fake news, “disinformation has now reached an unprecedented scale,” said Sylvain Delouvee, a researcher in Social Psychology at Rennes 2 University.
Rory Smith of the anti-disinformation website First Draft agreed.
“From an informational perspective, (the coronavirus crisis) has not only underscored the magnitude of misinformation around the world, but also the negative impact that misinformation can have on trust in vaccines, institutions, and scientific findings. in general, “he said.
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Rachel O’Brien, head of the WHO immunization department, said the agency was concerned that false information spread by the so-called “anti-vaccine” movement could deter people from immunizing against the coronavirus.
“We are very concerned about that and we are concerned that people get their information from credible sources, that they are aware that there is a lot of information that is wrong, be it intentionally wrong or unintentionally wrong,” he told AFP.
VACCINE HESITANCE
Steven Wilson, a professor at Brandeis University and co-author of a study titled Social Media and Vaccine Hesitancy published in the British Medical Journal last month, saw a link between online disinformation campaigns and a decline in vaccination.
“My fear regarding the impact of misinformation on social media in the context of COVID-19 is that it will increase the number of people who are hesitant to receive a vaccine, even if their fears are not scientifically based,” he said.
“Any vaccine is only as effective as our ability to implement it in a population.”
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Among the more outlandish claims of conspiracy theorists, for example, is the idea that the coronavirus pandemic is a hoax or part of an elite plan, devised by the likes of Bill Gates, to control the population.
And vaccination programs, those groups say, are a shield for implanting microscopic chips in people to monitor them.
Such notions may find fertile ground at a time when polls show that people in some countries, like Sweden and France, are already skeptical about vaccination, especially when treatments have been developed in record time without long-term studies. time available on its effectiveness and possible side effects.
The virus restrictions have already sparked protests, including from those who oppose vaccines. (File photo: AFP / Odd Andersen)
GROWING DISTRUST
Last month, an Ipsos survey suggested that only 54 percent of French people would be immunized against COVID-19, 10 percentage points less than in the United States, 22 points less than in Canada and 33 points less than in India.
In 15 countries, 73 percent of people said they were willing to get vaccinated against COVID-19, four percentage points less than in a previous survey in August.
But it’s not just about vaccines: More and more people are expressing growing distrust of institutions, experts say.
“The common theme” among conspiracy theorists “is that our ‘elites’ are lying to us,” said Delouvee of Rennes 2 University.
The disinformation is based on the growing mistrust of all institutional authority, be it governmental or scientific.
“When people cannot easily access reliable information about vaccines and when mistrust of vaccine-related actors and institutions is high, narratives of disinformation rush to fill the void,” said a First Draft report.
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