Fake news in the time of environmental disaster: Preparing framework for COVID-19

Abstract

The increasing trend of environmental disaster due to changing climate has escalated the occurrence of Tsunami, Forest fire, Flood, Epidemics and other extreme health and environmental and hazardous events across the globe. Establishment of effective and transparent communication during the crisis phase is extremely important to reduce the after-effects of the events. In recent times, fake news or news with fabricated content have emerged as major threats of communications during and and post -disaster phase. The present study critically evaluates the nature and consequences of fake news spread during the four major environmental disasters in recent era (Fukushima Nuclear Disaster, Keralan Flood, Amazon Forest Fire and African Ebola Epidemic) and prepared a framework for present COVID-19 Pandemic. The criticality and potential threat created by the fake news have been quantified and analyzed through the timeline of news spreading. It has been observed that the adverse impact related to the African Ebola Epidemic was highest due to its multiple fake news origin sites, both online and offline propagation methods, well fabricated content and relatively low effort on containment. However the COVID-19 pandemic is an ongoing disaster expected to have a long- drawn impact covering most countries in the world with combined consequences hence it tends to overtake all other events. Policy recommendations have been prepared to combat the spreading of fake news during the present and future environmental disasters. The importance of the study relies on the fact that the number of environmental disasters will increase in future and strategy for risk communication during the time is still not explored adequately. In addition the study will contribute significantly for understanding the present status of information paradigm for COVID-19 and helps in preparing region-specific real-time contingency measures for effective risk communication.

Tripartite Evolutionary Game Analysis for Rumor Spreading on Weibo Based on MA-PT

“…5. Then, the curved surface 1 G divides the space into upper and lower parts, which are respectively marked as space 11 H and 12 H . When the initial strategy of the game is in the space 11 H , the ultimate strategy of Weibo rumor makers is NM.…”

“…Then, the curved surface 1 G divides the space into upper and lower parts, which are respectively marked as space 11 H and 12 H . When the initial strategy of the game is in the space 11 H , the ultimate strategy of Weibo rumor makers is NM. On the contrary, if the initial strategy is in the space 12 H , the final strategy of Weibo rumor makers is M. For Weibo users, Equation ( 15) can be simplified as follows:…”

“…For example, Weibo user "Qin Huohuo" spreads rumors such as "huge compensation for train accident" and "forced donation by the Chinese Red Cross" through Weibo, which are widely spread by Weibo users and arouse passionate reactions from the masses. During the period of COVID-19, rumors about the epidemic situation [10], such as "the virus originates from people in Wuhan eating bats" [11][12][13], "eating garlic can kill the virus", and "Wuhan cuts off the Internet to forbid medical staff to share relevant information", are frequently seen, and cause a strong panic among the public [14]. Nowadays, Weibo becomes an essential way for the public to express their feelings and opinions, and also provides a platform for the generation and spread of rumors [15].…”

Dinamika Kesehatan Mental Penduduk Arab Saudi selama Pandemi Covid-19

“…Hal ini sangat penting mengingat hoaks sangat mudah menimbulkan kepanikan masyarakat, terlebih di era internet seperti sekarang ini. Meningkatnya kejadian bencana, termasuk juga pandemi, biasanya disertai pula dengan peningkatan berita hoaks atau berita yang telah terfabrikasi sehingga menimbulkan kesalahpahaman (Azim, Dey, Aich, & Roy, 2020).…”

Assessing the Impacts of “Infodemic” on Social Well-Being and Health Preparedness of Indian Communities during COVID-19 Pandemic through WhatsApp groups study

“…Five weeks prior to declaring COVID-19 a pandemic, WHO described the bigger challenge of handling the enormous volume of information that people were exposed globally affecting the sanity of human minds in times of pandemic (Azim et al 2020). The director of the organization pointed out the limits of human minds that filters real over fake and the inability to debunk falsity from actual as a public health issue.…”