Malaysia Covid-19 "Infodemic"

                     

                             Infodemic: A series of Covid-19 false information went viral on social media platform

                                   Source from Sebenarnya.my

 

MALAYSIA: Misinformation and rumour of COVID-19 have thrived on fear and uncertainty. However, a more fearful is the misinformation, which is spreading even faster than the virus itself. 

Karen M. Douglas, a researcher pointed out that the pandemic frustrates people’s psychological needs. When this happened, people seek out any information, including those from informal and unverified sources, in order to answer their uncertain future.  

Conspiracy theories are consequential where a large amount of false information has gone viral on social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter. This includes false remedy promotion, online surgical mask scams and those related to the authority actions such as messages and images depicting military helicopter will spray pesticide from the sky all over the country as well as showing military vehicles or troops patrolling the streets. 

Believing fake news also fuels excessive panic, as evident in the public panic buying at supermarkets. Further, false claims pertaining to government policies could cause confusion and pose challenges to the authorities in coping with the situation of the pandemic.  

 “The biggest challenges for us as been to stop people from spreading fake news”, said Mr Zulkarnain Mohd Yasin, the chief compliance officer at the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission during the interview with journalist from the Straits Times. 

Last year, 268 investigation papers on fake news related to Covid-19 were opened for investigation, with a total of 131 cases under investigation, 35 suspects charged in court and 19 suspects having pleaded guilty, reported by the New Straits Times Press. 

The world Health Organization (WHO) has declared the situation an “infodemic”, which is defined as “an overabundance of information – some accurate and some not that makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it”. 

 

Research of False Information Related to COVID-19

Harris Zainul and Farlina Said, the analyst from the Institute of Strategic and International Studies pointed out in their research that WhatsApp (39%) is the most popular medium of misinformation, followed by Facebook (34%) and others such as news, Twitter, Instagram, Telegram, Website, YouTube, SMS and email. 

 

                                              

                                   Source: Harris Zainul, data based on Harris’ calculation of fact-checks on Sebenarnya.my and 

                                     coding exercise

From the 353 false covid-19 related information from Sebenarnya.my, the researchers reveal that the most popular type of misinformation had referred to some sort of authority action and community spread. They stress the significance of improving digital literacy skills in order to establish a more credible information environment. 

Top-10 fact-checks with the highest views, and its corresponding type of false claim	Type of Misinformation
4 Nota Suara yang menggunakan nama MKN dakwa      darurat akan diisytihar adalah palsu	Authority Action
SMS berkenaan moratorium dari shortcode 66628 adalah sah dari Maybank	Scam
Penguatkuasaan saman bagi kesalahan naik kenderaan lebih daripada seorang dan	Authority Action
Pemberian elaun sebanyak RM3,000 kepada sesiapa yang dibuang kerja semasa	Authority Action
Duit BPN dianggap hangus jika tunggu fasa ke-2 adalah tidak benar	Authority Action
Dakwaan 4 lokasi panas (red zone) COVID-19 di Selangor adalah palsu	Community Spread
1,000 Pelancong dari Negara Cina tiba di Pulau Pinang melalui kapal layar mewah	Community Spread
Sebaran senarai kawasan di seluruh negara yang kononnya dikategorikan sebagai zon	Community Spread
Mayat dalam Myvi di RnR Hulu Bernam arah utara di Kuala Kubu Baru bukan kes…	Death
Jadual pembukaan semula sekolah seperti yang tular di media sosial adalah palsu	Authority Action

             Source: Harris Zainul, data based on the fact-checks’ view count listed on Sebenarnya.my and Harris’ coding exercise

 

“False information on the COVID-19 pandemic had exposed how social media and communication application users are not adept at basic digital literacy skills”, said Harris Zainul and Farlina Said. 

Edmund Ngo Chun Hou and his fellow researcher have a very similar finding. In studying the COVID-19 infodemic during the first, second and third wave in the country, they discovered that more than half of the misinformation during the first and second wave was intended to create fear and panic in the community, whereas the third wave was focused on authority action. Therefore, they highlight the importance of having transparency in times of crisis.

“The public was lacked of a clear, credible source information and because of that it creates the sort of information vacuum because there is no credible information that is being given precisely to the public, a lot of fake information come in”, said Edmund Ngo.

 “A clear, transparent, timely, accurate information from the authority is needed to create trust and to communicate with public on what is going on during a crisis”, he said.

Upon fighting the virus, there were several inconsistencies in government policy, especially at the early stage of the movement control order. For instance, the state governments were against the federal government’s decision to open up the economy under the movement control order. Such contradiction could further lead to confusion among the public.

 “It is important to increase trust in authority, when authority is transparent, when public trust them, it can reduce the amount of fake news during a crisis”, he emphasized.

Public is also encouraged to visit Sebenarnya.my, the fact-checking website established by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). The portal operates as a one-stop center for receiving and verifying fake news submission. The website also containing debunks, clarification and warnings for Covid-19 related false information.

#MOJOkitabySM,#SuaraMasyarakat,#CommunityVoice,#FightAgaintsFakeNews,#BeAnActiveInternetUser,#TransparencyOfInformation

 

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