Covid-19 infodemic and the necessary immunization against misinformation
Skopje, 24 July 2021 (MIA) - Coronavirus isn’t real, vaccines contain microchips, they’re dangerous and have harmful side effects – these are only some of the types of misinformation we come across every day related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Some of it can cause quite harmful consequences to public health and diminish people’s trust in the measures being taken to curb the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Covid-19 infodemic spreads in parallel to the virus and its consequences. The media constantly places news and the public is overwhelmed with information, and sometimes an unchecked fact will arise to cause misinformation under the pressure of the “hopeless” situation, and it often becomes the truth many people believe in.
These things lead citizens to distrust the existing measures and recommendations, and they endanger themselves and the health of others, and it’s all because one piece of misinformation.
The Council for Media Ethics (SEMM) has continued to get complaints during the pandemic, and most of them were about the one-sided, sensationalist reporting in media.
“Articles were reported that contained information about a possible drug against the coronavirus, conspiracy theory fodders, unchecked social media information, then articles linked to political altercations and pointing fingers related to the ways in which we’re dealing with the pandemic etc.,” says Marina Tuneva, SEMM executive director.
Dr. Nikola Panovski says that at the start of the pandemic, 30% of the population didn’t believe the disease even exists, and 5,500 deaths later, 10% still doesn’t. Part of the blame is in the WHO’s incapability to handle contradictory and non-scientific opinions.
“Here’s an example, science proves that naturally acquired immunity is long-lasting, probably lifelong, and the WHO is forcing an artificial immunity for everyone, including those who have had the illness, which goes against all previous experiences,” he says.
Therefore, based on this misinformation, the naturally immunized and those who have already had Covid-19 and healed from it have been vaccinated, he says. Dr. Panovski talks about another example, wearing masks outdoors when someone is alone, with the explanation that the virus spreads from street dust, and he says that someone might think that “they’re airdropping the virus through airplanes”.
“Some people were scared to go to the hospital, a huge part is still afraid to get vaccinated. The AstraZeneca misinformation, motivated by financial gain, took dozens of lives in March this year when they refused the vaccine, so they were caught by the spring wave,” dr. Panovski says.
Covid-19 misinformation amid the battle to be #1 and the motivation to defame the political opponent
The battle to be fast when it comes to publishing information has caused the publishing of unchecked information that often caused panic.
The SEMM confirms this, and they say that this battle requires the content that’s being published to stay unverified, especially if it comes from social media. Then, keeping in mind that the misinformation is the result of the conscious intention to spread wrong information, it’s clear that they have a motivation, be it to defame the political opponents, to back up conspiracy theories that the coronavirus isn’t real, that someone made it up, supporting anti-vaxxer opinions etc. Sometimes, they add, such content arises when there’s an informational vacuum – insufficient and irregular informing by the authorities, or when there is limited access to information.
Dr. Panovski says that the people who don’t believe in the virus’s existence are its main spreaders.
“When the WHO tacks on a recommendation to wear gloves, a measure that is completely nonsensical, onto the huge number of misinformation and fake news, the thing that happened happens – it took them six months to accept that the virus is spread through aerosol, so they recommended wearing masks,” he says.
Vaccine against misinformation exists, it’s important to follow measures
Dr. Panovski says that the crucial, necessary things in managing the spread of misinformation related to Covid-19 are expertise, science – uncalculated, without financial or political motivation – honesty, and truth. An inevitable part of that goal are explanations, answers, dialogue, perseverance, facts and numbers.
The SEMM says that it’s incredibly important to not share such content once recognized, thus preventing their further spread.
“Media literacy and critical judgment skills of articles are necessary to help people estimate what deserves their attention, and what needs to be discarded,” they say.
Using alternate sources of information, credible and fact-checked ones, and carefully consuming social media content are some ways to mitigate these issues.
This misinformation and its multiplication through going from one medium to the other has reached wider audiences and caused serious changes in opinions and behaviors, to the point where they cause harm to their health and the health of others. It’s necessary to be immune to Covid-19 misinformation, urges the Media Literacy Index as part of the European Policy Initiative of the Open Society Institute in Sofia, which places North Macedonia at the bottom of the ranking list, behind Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Montenegro and Turkey.
The report says that a better, functional education and specialized media literacy training will secure resistance against the worst forms of fake news, and dealing with fake news and misinformation will reduce the amount of political and social confrontation, the amount of trust in societies will increase and lead to a healthier environment during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Angela Rajchevska
Translated by Dragana Knezhevikj
Dr. Nikola Panovski says that at the start of the pandemic, 30% of the population didn’t believe the disease even exists, and 5,500 deaths later, 10% still doesn’t. Part of the blame is in the WHO’s incapability to handle contradictory and non-scientific opinions.
“Here’s an example, science proves that naturally acquired immunity is long-lasting, probably lifelong, and the WHO is forcing an artificial immunity for everyone, including those who have had the illness, which goes against all previous experiences,” he says.
Therefore, based on this misinformation, the naturally immunized and those who have already had Covid-19 and healed from it have been vaccinated, he says. Dr. Panovski talks about another example, wearing masks outdoors when someone is alone, with the explanation that the virus spreads from street dust, and he says that someone might think that “they’re airdropping the virus through airplanes”.
“Some people were scared to go to the hospital, a huge part is still afraid to get vaccinated. The AstraZeneca misinformation, motivated by financial gain, took dozens of lives in March this year when they refused the vaccine, so they were caught by the spring wave,” dr. Panovski says.
Covid-19 misinformation amid the battle to be #1 and the motivation to defame the political opponent
The battle to be fast when it comes to publishing information has caused the publishing of unchecked information that often caused panic.
The SEMM confirms this, and they say that this battle requires the content that’s being published to stay unverified, especially if it comes from social media. Then, keeping in mind that the misinformation is the result of the conscious intention to spread wrong information, it’s clear that they have a motivation, be it to defame the political opponents, to back up conspiracy theories that the coronavirus isn’t real, that someone made it up, supporting anti-vaxxer opinions etc. Sometimes, they add, such content arises when there’s an informational vacuum – insufficient and irregular informing by the authorities, or when there is limited access to information.
Dr. Panovski says that the people who don’t believe in the virus’s existence are its main spreaders.
“When the WHO tacks on a recommendation to wear gloves, a measure that is completely nonsensical, onto the huge number of misinformation and fake news, the thing that happened happens – it took them six months to accept that the virus is spread through aerosol, so they recommended wearing masks,” he says.
Vaccine against misinformation exists, it’s important to follow measures
Dr. Panovski says that the crucial, necessary things in managing the spread of misinformation related to Covid-19 are expertise, science – uncalculated, without financial or political motivation – honesty, and truth. An inevitable part of that goal are explanations, answers, dialogue, perseverance, facts and numbers.
The SEMM says that it’s incredibly important to not share such content once recognized, thus preventing their further spread.
“Media literacy and critical judgment skills of articles are necessary to help people estimate what deserves their attention, and what needs to be discarded,” they say.
Using alternate sources of information, credible and fact-checked ones, and carefully consuming social media content are some ways to mitigate these issues.
This misinformation and its multiplication through going from one medium to the other has reached wider audiences and caused serious changes in opinions and behaviors, to the point where they cause harm to their health and the health of others. It’s necessary to be immune to Covid-19 misinformation, urges the Media Literacy Index as part of the European Policy Initiative of the Open Society Institute in Sofia, which places North Macedonia at the bottom of the ranking list, behind Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Montenegro and Turkey.
The report says that a better, functional education and specialized media literacy training will secure resistance against the worst forms of fake news, and dealing with fake news and misinformation will reduce the amount of political and social confrontation, the amount of trust in societies will increase and lead to a healthier environment during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Angela Rajchevska
Translated by Dragana Knezhevikj 
