Corona-conspiracies: You probably shouldn’t share that

The worldwide coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has changed the way we work, socialise and keep ourselves entertained.

With so many of us now relying on social media to keep abreast of recent developments around infection, deaths and recovery rates – how do we separate fact from fiction?

The Citizen spoke to Facebook, WhatsApp, a psychologist, and an author on urban legends to find out what motivates fake news, how it can affect people’s mental states and ways to avoid it.

Dessy Tzoneva, a clinical psychologist in Randburg, Johannesburg, said it was human nature to look for answers when there was a threat to our safety.

“Perhaps, for some of us, figuring out what’s really going on leaves us feeling more in control and less vulnerable. We just want to know. It removes some of the uncertainty and maybe knowing anything, whether true or not, feels better than not knowing at all.”

Tzoneva said all of us had mental and physical wellbeing that could be affected at any moment by our experiences, and the amount of fake news doing the rounds can present a danger.

Although a recent study by BreadCrumbs, a behavioural linguistics firm, says South Africa is one of the most reliable countries in the world when it comes to accurate Covid-19 reporting, we have had our fair share of crackpot theories over the last few weeks.

From the circulation of a WhatsApp text warning people not to eat salads and fruit, to a video from one Stephen Birch (who’s since been arrested and released on a warning) claiming that our government is using contaminated coronavirus test kits to spread the virus – it appears that even our BreadCrumbs rating does not grant us immunity to viral vitriol.

Arthur Goldstuck, who is a media analyst and commentator on internet and mobile communications and technologies, said there was no question that conspiracy theories and fake news could affect human behaviour.

“The last time South Africa was exposed to a flurry of conspiracy theories was in the lead up to our first democratic elections.”

In his book, Ink In The Porridge, Goldstuck raised the alarm on the number of urban legends that sprung up during that time and the dangers thereof.

Even though our country was lauded by international spectators as having one of the continent’s most successful elections, Goldstuck warns that when left unchecked, urban legends and conspiracy theories can result in outrage and even violence.

But how does one monitor and curate the neighbourhood gossips now that social media has granted them greater reach?

“WhatsApp is a prime example of steps taken to control the influx of fake news and conspiracy theories,” said Goldstuck.

To stem what it says is misinformation being spread on its platform, WhatsApp is limiting the number of recipients to which its users can forward certain messages about the coronavirus pandemic.

With billions of people unable to see their friends and family in person due to Covid-19, people are relying on WhatsApp more than ever to communicate. But personal conversations are being interrupted by those posting misinformation about the pandemic.

“Last year we introduced users to the concept of messages that have been forwarded many times. These messages are labelled with double arrows to indicate they did not originate from a close contact,” the Facebook-owned messaging app said in a statement.

“In effect, these messages are less personal compared to typical messages sent on WhatsApp. We are now introducing a limit so that these messages can only be forwarded to one chat at a time.”

By making it more difficult to pass them on, the service said it hoped to limit the spread of misinformation about the current global pandemic and crisis.

“Such misinformation has been running rampant on social media. We want to maintain WhatsApp as a platform for private messages.”

Kojo Boakye, Head of Public Policy for Facebook Africa, told The Citizen that misinformation was an ongoing challenge.

“That is why we have and continue to move quickly to stop hoaxes and misinformation about Covid-19, both locally and globally. We’re doing proactive sweeps across our platforms to find and remove as much of this content as we can.”

He said Facebook was also blocking people from running adverts that tried to exploit the situation, such as claiming that their product could cure the disease. The social media platform had also banned adverts and commerce listings selling medical masks.

“In Sub Saharan Africa, we’re also working with our local third-party fact-checking partners AFP, France24, Africa Check, Pesa Check and Dubawa, who are continuing their work in reviewing content and debunking false claims that are spreading related to the coronavirus,” said Boakye.

However, one need only log onto one’s Facebook account to see how ineffective the group’s efforts have been.

From hardware stores selling “scientifically and SABS-approved” surgical masks to home haberdasheries promoting their “double-layered and machine safe” animal print mask, and Idris Elba denying his endorsement of a miracle immune booster – it appears the platform is affecting its new measures at a snail’s pace.

Goldstuck, who is also one of the continent’s most respected tech journalists, agrees that online services and platforms are not reacting quickly enough.

“Perhaps they’re enjoying the increased traffic and user presence that conspiracy theories and fake news generates for them. Removing sensational videos and posts does work to their advantage.”

Until effective measures have been put in place to control the virality of messages, Tzoneva says we should edit what we choose to read or view online.

“You can do this by asking yourself ‘what does this piece of news/information change about my response to this pandemic/crisis and does it change anything about the things I can do to protect myself’.”

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