Daily Times

“We’re not just fighting an epidemic; we’re fighting an infodemic,” said the WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, after he realised that fake news spreads faster and more easily than the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Social media platforms are inundated with COVID-19 misinformation as people heedlessly share unverified claims about the virus’ origin, its symptoms, prevention, and other misleading updates.

Infodemic is a global epidemic of misinformation, which spreads fast through social media and other outlets and causes mental and physical health hazards. It is an excessive amount of information based on misinformation, disinformation and rumours, and creates confusion and distrust among people. Infodemic seems to be more dangerous that the COVID-19 pandemic since it is hoped that the world succeeds in developing a vaccine against the virus sooner or later, but infodemic will continue to infect us. No vaccine will work against it. The most effective antidote against it is education and awareness.

Infodemics, information disorder and information pollution are the greatest challenges of the time. Unbridled social media platforms and unbounded social media space have worried governments across the world which have been taking measures to rein in social media. However, the focus is on censoring criticism and gagging anti-government voices and not on addressing the core problems. In some cases, the governments promote and use misinformation, disinformation and misinformation to serve interests. Pakistan is not an exception. The government has taken some measures and introduced laws to rein in social media users and censor criticism in Pakistan, but media organisations and human rights activists did not welcome them since they doubt the government’s intent. However, even if the government’s intention is good, the measures such as policing the internet, banning accounts and reporting individuals are not enough, instead, an all-encompassing solution based on developing resistance to the proliferation of information disorder is required.

Infodemic seems to be more dangerous that the COVID-19 pandemic since it is hoped that the world succeeds in developing a vaccine against the virus sooner or later, but infodemic will continue to infect us

During the last few years, the number of internet users in Pakistan has significantly swelled. Reportedly 1 in 3 Pakistanis has access to the internet and one in five Pakistanis uses social media in some form or the other. The overexposure to the internet is a naked double-edged sword since people are exposed to information but they are not equipped with the skills and knowledge required to navigate and understand the content on the internet. Along with offering awesome opportunities, this information explosion poses major challenges such as partisan and hyper-partisan content; propaganda and conspiracies; rumours and hoaxes; hate speech and political disinformation campaigns; cyberbullying and digital cheating. How many of us identify or verify a source before forwarding or sharing any content? Unfortunately, it has been observed that viral messages are usually labelled “forwarded” or copy-pasted across social media platforms without identifying where they were originated from.

To cope with these challenges, there is a need to educate people on how to use the digital space and sensitise them on how they can get around falling prey to misinformation, disinformation and misinformation. We should focus on advocacy and capacity building that can address these problems. The government should launch public awareness campaigns in collaboration with media consultancy organisations on using social media and digital space. On the other hand, universities and colleges should introduce mandatory courses about digital literacy.

Individually, we can also guard ourselves against physical and mental hazards of information pollution and circumvent becoming a tool of online exploiters. We need to realize it is our moral, social, religious and legal obligation to verify what we pass on. While using social media platforms, please keep in mind this simple principle: Share with care and don’t share if not sure.

The writer is an Islamabad-based journalist and media analyst. He can be reached at tariq.freed@yahoo.com