Infodemic as Social Challenge: International, Regional, National Settings

Abstract

The paper focuses on of the most critical social challenges during the current pandemic. It aims to consider the phenomenon of infodemic at international, regional, and national levels.The paper provides concrete examples of the mentioned trends and features.The research materials include the UNO, World Health Organization, EU documents, and national documents of several countries, mass media statements with regard to the infodemic roots, essence, tools, actors, consequences.The research methodology rests on the comparative qualitative approach to the data analysis, also uses the case study techniques as each research item is considered as a case. Totally over 250 items were subject to study.The results show that the international community realizes the threat of infodemic, recognizes the need of coordinated response in the form of communication policies.As far as the national level is concerned, many countries take legislation measures to combat the infodemic, introduced amendments to the administrative and criminal legal acts to impose administrative and criminal liability of physical and legal persons whose disinformation activities cause harm to other people lives and health.The findings lead to the conclusion on the need to the coordinated policy of the information provision within emergency settings at international, regional, and local national levels. The paper also considers some examples of such an approach within national practices of several countries and as an additional information sets forth brief outline of national universities activities that helped to play down and counter the disinformation at microlevel, with regard to information provision within a particular region of the country.

Criminal Liability for Providing Inaccurate Information about the Spread of the COVID-19 Epidemic

“…One of the main directions, given the importance of obtaining accurate information, is to establish responsibility for providing official inaccurate information on the incidence of Covid-19 and disseminating inaccurate information about the epidemic -for the so-called infodemic in the global Covid-19 pandemic (Gorbatenko, 2021;Yirong, 2021). In particular, the impact of unreliable news and misinformation during a pandemic on both the epidemiological situation and other areas of social life is studied (Kacper, 2020); negative consequences of misinformation of the population through messages or stories about protection against Covid-19 (Hurford et al, 2021); modelling and forecasting of consequences of the failure to use standard data on Covid-19 is carried out (Ashrafi-Rizi and Zahra, 2020); the dangers of inaccurate messages are emphasized (Bratu, 2020;Minfin, 2021).…”

“…If in other conditions distortion of certain data was not considered a crime, in current conditions of epidemic threats even partially reliable data can be considered completely unreliable (Elm and Sarel, 2021). Besides, the so-called infodemic during the Covid-19 pandemic entails significant social changes, including health care, which also requires government intervention and a more severe response to these offenses (Gorbatenko, 2021).…”