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These past few months I've led our team debunking misinformation about Covid-19. You can't tell the story of the pandemic here without talking about all the misinfo.
The big q for me: can Ireland ever go back to having low levels of false news after this? https://www.thejournal.ie/river/covid-19-misinformation-and-ireland-2478232-Aug2020/
The big q for me: can Ireland ever go back to having low levels of false news after this? https://www.thejournal.ie/river/covid-19-misinformation-and-ireland-2478232-Aug2020/
In a big series on @thejournal_ie this weekend, we look into specific cases of misinfo including Paddy Cosgrave's tweet about four nurses dying (
), the Dolores Cahill vid, and the fake WhatsApp voice message about lockdown that you prob got at some point https://www.thejournal.ie/river/covid-19-misinformation-and-ireland-2478232-Aug2020/
), the Dolores Cahill vid, and the fake WhatsApp voice message about lockdown that you prob got at some point https://www.thejournal.ie/river/covid-19-misinformation-and-ireland-2478232-Aug2020/
I wrote this one zooming out a bit and looking at how misinformation *exploded* here. There were two waves:
First up, the wave fuelled by anxiety. This played out mainly on WhatsApp from Feb until April and preyed on people's fears about the pandemic http://jrnl.ie/5146179t
First up, the wave fuelled by anxiety. This played out mainly on WhatsApp from Feb until April and preyed on people's fears about the pandemic http://jrnl.ie/5146179t
You probably got at least one of these WhatsApp messages. Things like: The government and HSE are covering up secret cases! A certain hospital in Dublin/Galway/Cork is in lockdown! Drinking water will stop you getting Covid!
All nonsense, but almost always *sounded* credible
All nonsense, but almost always *sounded* credible
These generally weren't malicious - people genuinely thought they were helping friends and family by sharing these WhatsApp messages. But the problem was it's REALLY hard to stop dodgy WhatsApp messages from being shared http://jrnl.ie/5146179t
The second wave is all about distrust of institutions and authorities. It started in April, it's a lot more insidious and it's still going on.
The big change was the move from WhatsApp to Facebook (it wouldn't be a thread about misinfo without FB!) http://jrnl.ie/5146179t
The big change was the move from WhatsApp to Facebook (it wouldn't be a thread about misinfo without FB!) http://jrnl.ie/5146179t
People sharing these theories feel they have been lied to. These posts and pages speak about distrust in government, in the HSE, in specific politicians, in 5G - basically looking to blame someone or something for their role in the pandemic http://jrnl.ie/5146179t
These kinds of conspiracies, with starring roles for Bill Gates and the WHO, would normally be shared by a tiny number of people on Irish Facebook. The pandemic has changed that tho, and the volume of posts – and the reaction to them – has surged http://jrnl.ie/5146179t
For example, I found there were 76,302 interactions on posts about Bill Gates on Irish Facebook pages between March and July compared to just over 10,000 for the same period last year (and a joke post about Leaving Cert advice accounted for half of those) http://jrnl.ie/5146179t
http://jrnl.ie/5146179t
These ones are *much* harder to factcheck. (Although shoutout to the helpful press person at the International Criminal Court who helpfully confirmed for me that Bill Gates was not, in fact, being put on trial for genocide). https://www.thejournal.ie/bill-gates-anthony-fauci-debunk-genocide-factcheck-5110920-May2020/
So look, is all this misinfo going to stick around and cause problems in Ireland? I'm cautious in the article about forecasting the future, but tbh I think it probably is. The volume of it is wild. It is a tide and it is not going out http://jrnl.ie/5146179t
Shoutout to my brilliant colleagues who worked so hard on this series over the past few months to shine a light on a particularly dark thing happening in Ireland right now: @SineadOCarroll @Ste_McDermott @orlaryan @orladwyer_ and @garmacnamee 
https://www.thejournal.ie/river/covid-19-misinformation-and-ireland-2478232-Aug2020/
https://www.thejournal.ie/river/covid-19-misinformation-and-ireland-2478232-Aug2020/
