Recruiting Digital First Responders to counter pandemic misinformation
An alarming new study of more than 200 million Twitter posts since January that mention COVID-19, estimates that 45% were sent by accounts that behave more like bots than humans. Although the researchers from Carnegie Mellon University are not able to conclusively identify the individuals or groups behind the accounts, the bot activity is two- to three-times higher than projections based on prior disasters, crises and elections. The study also identifies at least 100 false narratives about the Coronavirus pandemic that bot accounts have disseminated, including theories about hospitals being filled with mannequins or tweets that link disease transmission to 5G technology. In addition to inciting fear and social disorder (in the U.K., for example, dozens of wireless towers have been destroyed), misinformation on social media poses significant public health risks.
The twin issues of increasing access to the internet and fighting misinformation have been core priorities of the UN Secretary General, who last week announced the launch of a new ‘Verified’ The program will aim to recruit millions of ‘digital first responders’ around the world to counter misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic. This network of ‘information volunteers’ would also share a daily fact-based UN feed that either fill an information void or that actively counter false narratives about the pandemic.
The Smithsonian Science Education Center also released a rapid response guide for young people on the science and social science of the novel Coronavirus based on the UN SDGs. COVID-19: How Can I Protect Myself and Others? was developed in collaboration with the WHO and the InterAcademy Partnership, a global network of over 140 national academies of science, engineering, and medicine. The guide is currently available in 16 languages (particularly African and Asian languages) and for various age groups (ranging from 8 to 17), providing learning activities, tasks as well as tools for young people to keep themselves, their families and communities safe.