As the number of people infected with Coronavirus around the world increases to more than five million, the spread of false information that intrudes on social networking sites and even the media and feeds on the large number of news and mixing facts, rumors and fake news.
The World Health Organization described the spread of misinformation as "epidemic", while the Washington Post considered that the fight against the Corona virus also means combating media misinformation, in light of the increasing prevalence of wrong information about the epidemic in social media.
In his message on World Press Freedom Day, on May 3, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to governments - and others - to ensure that journalists are able to do their work throughout the period of the Corona pandemic and beyond.
Guterres noted that "journalists and media workers play a very important role in helping us make informed decisions."
"And while the world is fighting the pandemic of Covid-19, these decisions can save lives from death."
The Secretary-General of the United Nations added that the outbreak of this pandemic was also associated with "a second pandemic, which is to mislead people, whether by spreading harmful health advice or by promoting conspiracy theories in a way that knows no one else."
Guterres stressed that the press is combating this pandemic with the confirmed scientific news and analysis supported by the facts, but pointed out that since the outbreak of this pandemic, many journalists are subjected to more restrictions and penalties "for nothing but that they are doing their job."
Anti-disinformation
And the Washington Post considered in its editorial last week that if it was true that the lie quickly spread in the world before the truth could prove its existence, one can imagine the accelerating effects of the epidemic that makes millions of people in reality and across the Internet and pessimistic forces eager to spread the turmoil , And it makes technology platforms teeming with incomplete records.
The newspaper added that the pseudo-remedies and a series of false allegations have flooded the internet since the start of the epidemic, which shows that combating the new pandemic also requires combating false information.
According to the Washington Post, misinformation about the Corona virus takes many forms, which are dangerous in various ways, and the most alarming is advice that would lead to direct harm if followed, such as directives to drink antiseptics or expose the body to high temperatures to kill the virus.
The newspaper says facing up to the sheer number of misinformation quickly transmitting the Corona virus is a sufficient challenge, as well as the worsening of things by US President Donald Trump by providing unproven and often dangerous advice.
Freedom of the press
The newspaper believes that we should not aim to prevent every wrong or misleading word about the virus, but we must seek to amplify clear and scientific messages of informed messages from reliable sources, and to ensure that the wrong information - from anywhere and at any time - get the least amount possible From publishing.
In the wake of dozens of journalists around the world departing from the emerging coronavirus during the past months, the Press Ambience Campaign (the press slogan campaign) has warned that many journalists are putting themselves at risk to prepare reports on the global crisis.
The organization drew to the United Nations warnings that the pandemic is being used in some countries as an excuse to suppress the media, noting "censorship, Internet closures, arbitrary arrests of journalists, physical and verbal attacks, and emergency laws that restrict press freedom in recent weeks."
The organization added that the matter is particularly worrying at a time when access to reliable public information is more important than ever, saying that "transparency is essential and can save lives during a health crisis."