THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC has had a massive effect on the world for more than six months, uprooting our “normal” lives in many cases.
Everyone felt that they had an effect on the loss of those he enjoyed, the jobs, stability and concern among the general public during the crisis was palpable.
This concern has led to a build-up of incorrect information online and incorrect information about a virus that fitness experts still fully understand.
Misdata refers to “fake news” shared by the sender knowing that the data is false, while misdata is the planned dissemination of fake data for malicious reasons.
These publications are often plagued by concerns and uncertainty, and have conspired more in Ireland and other countries in recent months.
The phenomenon spreads all over the world, with some pieces of incorrect information jumping all over the continent.
False statements, such as gargling salt water or holding your breath for at least ten seconds or checking Covid-19, have crossed borders and, in some cases, adapted to the new environment.
Jules Darmanin, Coronavirus Facts Alliance’s assignment coordinator at the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), said the maximum number of people at the start of the pandemic did not mean any harm in sharing claims about remedies or preventive measures.
“With misinformation in general, a lot of things happen between the family circle because you need your circle of family members and you have something new that’s scary,” he told TheJournal.ie.
Disinformation one and two
Darmanin stated that so far there had been two stages of incorrect information about this pandemic in Ireland and other countries with similar degrees of virus.
The moment phase began in April and focuses more on conspiracy theories than on blockage notices or questionable fitness claims.
Darmanin said: “It’s appealing to see how fake pandemic data crosses issues that already existed, whether 5G, vaccines or Bill Gates.
In Europe, as blockades accumulate and instances continue to decline in peak countries, “there is less false data on Covid-19 because there is less data” about coronavirus in the news, he said.
Although some conspiracy theories have been provided since the onset of the pandemic, they have intensified since April, while other elements of incorrect information move to the background.
5G, Bill Gates and anti-vaccine publications, most of this wave of misinformation, are expected to burn soon.
“It’s more complicated for conspiracy theories to be extinguished because they are adjusting around a worldview that disappears with the appeasement of the pandemic in some countries,” Darmanin said.
Ireland and the world
Some erroneous data from the pandemic was expressed to Ireland, such as the blocking of the “red state,” however, there have been a total number of misrepresentations that have spread to other countries that have not reached our shores.
In France, the government intervened in a false rumor to explain that cocaine cures coronavirus.
Meanwhile, in Iran, one of the strangest, a clergyman advised that other people rub their anus with flower oil at night to cure the coronavirus. That’s not true, and it’s a rumor that didn’t take root in Ireland.
Misinformation in Ireland, as in the peak countries, followed this first empirical wave of incorrect information between January and April.
Jules Darmanin said there had been “many rumors shared through many other people with intelligent faith” in this era that they sought to warn the circle of family and friends of the virus. These rumors were regularly based on remedies or contained false measures to save his life, such as putting onions in his home or applying safe breathing techniques to save him from the Covid-19.
Claims like these “were basically due to a lack of data when you have this lack of data,” Darmanin said, while conspiracy allegations “stem from lack of trust.” And we don’t see any more.
Ireland and other European countries whose virus epidemics have slowed are now in a momentary phase of misinformation/disinformation, which relies more on conspiracy theories such as 5G, Bill Gates and anti-vaccine content.
Like the claims of the first phase, non-unusual themes arise and the same messages are shared countless times on social media around the world.
As Ireland and other countries continue this phase of disinformation moment, TheJournal.ie tested the origins, spread and progression of 4 other misrepresentations from the early days of the pandemic to be more informed about its spread.
1. Claim: You can Covid-19 holding your breath for more than 10 seconds.
Where does that come from?
This is one of the most unusual claims in Ireland and many other countries around the world in the first weeks of March.
Holding your breath for at least 10 seconds is probably a quick guarantee that you don’t have the coronavirus. However, it was discredited through TheJournal.ie on 18 March; this is not a way to verify Covid-19.
The first public posts on Facebook about this claim were posted on February 13 on teams in Yangon, Myanmar.
Publications with this statement were shared with other computers and public pages in Myanmar, before being disseminated to countries such as India and Pakistan in the following days.
This rumor peaked on Facebook between March 22 and March 28 with more than 90,000 interactions in posts for those keywords, according to Crowdtangle.
The first message with this on Twitter was posted on February 25.
Jules Darmanin stated that this specific statement spread “almost everywhere” and had been debuted through de facto auditors from around the world.
The first fact check of this claim was conducted through the Taiwan FactCheck Center on February 12, so it probably circulates on personal teams before moving to public pages on Facebook and Twitter.
When did it start to spread in Ireland?
The first message sent to TheJournal.ie’s WhatsApp number about this claim on March 13, the day this number pledged to receive false claims from Covid-19.
It was first shared at an Irish public Facebook organisation on 25 February.
2. The allegation: drinking tea is a remedy against covid-19
Where does that come from?
This specific dates back at least to the SARS outbreak in 2003.
Tea has long been hailed for having medicinal and fitness benefits, and Covid-19 has become kind to this claim.
In 2003, the New York Times wrote of “fear, herbal shops and rumors” in a Chinatown neighborhood amid the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
The article quotes a sign in front of a New York store: “Hot tisana to take that prevents SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and cleans your system!”
Does it look familiar?
There is no tea that can cure Covid-19 or cure SARS.
Tweets claiming that ginger tea is a cure for coronavirus began circulating online last January. They accelerated speed in February with accusations of elderflower tea.
In Peru, ginger exports nearly tripled the pandemic because of its belief in strengthening the immune system, the country’s Ministry of Commerce recently said.
On Facebook, posts with this were posted on February 12 and began to accumulate particularly as of March 6. They peaked between 26 April and 2 May.
Darmanin said the claim had circulated in countries such as Taiwan, Indonesia, Turkey and India. It also spread to countries like Portugal and Mexico with one difference: the rumor focused on coffee rather than tea unlike Covid-19.
In Brazil, factcheckers refuted claims last January that fennel tea could cure Covid-19.
When did it start to spread in Ireland?
TheJournal.ie first won a message with this on March 13.
The first article to be presented by this precise statement on a public Facebook page based in Ireland was published on 11 March.
3. Affirmation: Drinking water every 15 minutes can cure Covid-19
Where does that come from?
Many claims circulated at the beginning of the pandemic with respect to water and Covid-19.
This specifies that drinking water every 15 minutes “at least” can prevent the virus from entering the trachea and lungs. That’s not true.
A variant posted to a public Facebook organization on January 22.
Other items from this era have the importance of drinking water to stimulate immune symptom and prevent infections.
The first public message with the precise 15-minute claim shared on a Coronavirus Mexico page on February 27.
The wording of this article is similar to the WhatsApp message circulated in Ireland shortly thereafter. He first debuted through AFP on February 28. The rumour peaked on Facebook in the last week of March, with nearly 80,000 reactions to posts containing the claim.
On Twitter, the first message with this took place on February 25, in a thread with some other false rumors.
During the 2009 swine flu pandemic, claims were made about water.
One website, Wise Bread, said gargling salt water and drinking hot liquids can save your swine flu infection. These two false statements were also made about Covid-19.
When did you go to Ireland?
The first example of this appearing on a public Facebook page in Ireland is 11 March.
At this point, it had already been discredited through several posts and the comments in the message indicate that it is false.
The claim was first sent to TheJournal.ie on March 13.
4. The statement: you can make your hand sanitizer with a diluted mouthwash.
Where does that come from?
The first message with this on Facebook was posted on March 3 through a Swiss dental company whose mouthwash does not contain alcohol.
Hand sanitizer must include at least 60% alcohol to be effective against this coronavirus. The original Formula of Listerine Mouthwash contains 26.9% alcohol and the company has responded to the rumor on its website.
Posts containing the keywords of this have been gaining popularity on Facebook from the last week of February and peaked between March 8 and 14. The declaration has been made open through many fact-checkers abroad.
When did it start to spread in Ireland?
The first message with this shared with TheJournal.ie dates back to April 4.
It has been shared too much on Facebook pages and Irish groups, with some posts published at about the same time.
This statement is just one of many rumors about home-like hand sanitizers that circulated online. It is recommended that vodka be used as a source of alcohol, which would not have enough alcohol content to be effective.
The “recipes” for herbal hand sanitizers, essential oils and aloe vera have also circulated on social media. They don’t paint to kill the virus, either.
Until 2016, deep forgery, Brexit and Trump, Ireland saw incorrect information in the same way or at the same point as other jurisdictions.
But since the first case of Covid-19 was confirmed, TheJournal.ie FactCheck has discredited or reviewed 75 coronavirus claims.
Through this work, we have been able to track the effect of the pandemic on Ireland’s vulnerability and its dating with false information.
In this series, we’ll look at some of the most infamous stories: who are they and what effect they had on the population? We looked at the environment and the computer that allowed messages to propagate; his R number is as scary as Covid-19’s.
This new coronavirus would possibly not be with us forever, but the wrong information may also be one of its fatal aftermath.
So now we ask: Does Ireland have forever? Watch the full series here.
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