As the world continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, we are faced with a parallel crisis that the World Health Organization has called an infodemic: the public’s ever-increasing struggle to separate truth and rumors as the amount of information about the crisis expands exponentially. Social media is swarming with misinformation and speculation, with fears often spreading faster than reality, while regimes exploit the chaos in an attempt to suppress dissenting voices and weaken their adversaries.
In this discussion, Andy Carvin, senior fellow at the Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) will join Indian health journalist Nayantara Narayanan (PROTO) and ICFJ's Global Director of Research Dr. Julie Posetti to take a look at global trends in COVID-19 disinformation — health equipment scams, attacks on critical journalists by political leaders,and assaults on democracy designed to sow panic in global markets.
This webinar is part of the Global Health Crisis Reporting Forum from the International Center for Journalists and IJNet.
This webinar will take place on Zoom on April 23 at 9:00 a.m. EDT.