In the COVID-19 pandemic, disinformation can be a life-and-death matter. In Iran, false rumours spread on social media that toxic methanol could cure the novel coronavirus. Hundreds of people tried this dangerous “cure” and died. In the U.S., misleading and premature claims led some to treat COVID-19 patients with hydroxychloroquine - a drug later found to be associated with a higher death rate.

Although reliable data on its scale and impact is lacking, experts agree that COVID-19 disinformation has spread widely and rapidly across social and mainstream media platforms throughout the pandemic.

In some countries, governments have used new and existing levers to stop the spread of disinformation and protect public health. But in others, government leaders have actively promoted COVID-19 disinformation, stymieing efforts to implement and secure public adherence to evidence-based measures to stem the pandemic.

The need for public servants at all levels of government to understand the threat of disinformation and how to collaborate to stop it has rarely been clearer. A virtual exchange held on June 30 by Apolitical – in partnership with the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) and the Reset Initiative – brought together over 50 experts and public servants from around the world to discuss how to address COVID-19-related disinformation and identify lessons for future crises.

The participants were realistic about the complexity of the challenge, with many agreeing that governments are years—even decades—away from having the right mix of tools and partnerships to stop the spread of disinformation.

On the bright side, they believed that the COVID-19 experience has demonstrated the power of country efforts to educate and engage the public to mitigate the spread and impact of disinformation. But ultimately, stronger global cooperation is needed to fight this global challenge.

Educate and engage the public

In many countries, efforts to address disinformation have largely focused on top-down regulatory actions or technical fixes like algorithm changes. But some like Finland and Indonesia have built a strong citizen fact-checking ethos through strategies like holding media literacy training in schools and communities and recruiting volunteers to actively identify and dispel disinformation.

Public servants in the exchange believed information literacy programs like theirs have helped to avoid harms from COVID-19 disinformation. However, information literacy efforts can be challenging to implement well, they said.

Effective programs recognize that susceptibility to disinformation varies by age—with older populations more likely to believe what they read than younger populations. Strong programs also seek to teach people to be “emotionally sceptical” - or to be more aware of their instincts and biases and how they might impact how they react to certain information. They also provide tools for citizens to counter disinformation in a constructive way - like providing guidance on how to ask a relative to stop spreading disinformation without causing offence.

But while promising, education and public engagement are not enough to solve the problem of disinformation.

Stopping the spread requires global cooperation

Elsewhere, the COVID-19 pandemic has also highlighted the value of relationships within government and with tech platforms and outside experts.

During the recent E.U. and U.K. elections, the U.K.’s Counter Disinformation Cell engaged in a coordinated cross-agency and cross-sector effort to identify and curb the spread of election-related disinformation. The U.K. has now pivoted this effort to focus on COVID-19 disinformation, and the team believes that the relationships built with tech platforms, academics, and other stakeholders during those earlier efforts have paid off. Through cooperation, the unit has been able to better understand the scope and extent of false rumours and statements - and get them removed more quickly.

But ultimately, many public servants in the exchange did not believe governments would fare better during the next crisis without cross-country collaboration and stronger regulation. Even strong national initiatives cannot deal with the global spread of disinformation on the Internet.

Whether related to COVID-19 or other issues, disinformation spreads because it is engaging content—and engaging content that makes people click and stay is extremely valuable to tech platforms that rely on ad revenue.

In the face of this enormous financial incentive, voluntary efforts are likely to fall short. But experts cautioned that for effective regulation, governments will need to solve the problem of the lack of reliable data on the spread of disinformation—and find a way to independently review the strategies that tech platforms are using to address it.

Nonetheless, as the discussion during the exchange highlighted, public servants can often take small steps to protect the public. And their efforts may get increasing support, as the COVID-19 “infodemic” makes more leaders aware of real-world harms caused by disinformation. – Joanna Mikulski

(Picture credit: Unsplash)