- Messages on WhatsApp, questionable videos on Facebook or YouTube… Rumors and intoxication are increasing in this period of epidemic.
- 20 Minutes returns to the reflexes to have and gives you some tips to be better equipped in the face of these manipulations.
False alarmist messages from nurses circulating on WhatsApp, a surfer who wrongly claims, in a video seen tens of thousands of times, that the Institut Pasteur patented the coronavirus in 2004… There are many intoxicants about the Covid-19 epidemic. Here are some tips to help you avoid getting intoxicated.
- Ask yourself what is the source
Who is speaking? Who claims to give you information? Pay attention to the sender of the message. Ask yourself why this source claims to provide information. In general, advice from a so-called "doctor returning from Milan" or from a "nurse friend" should be taken with the greatest of care.
Take extra care if the message is anonymous. Messages that are copied / pasted on WhatsApp or on social networks are very often. A double arrow and the mention "Transferred" in the header of a WhatsApp message allows you to identify if it has been transferred more than five times between users.
- What is your reaction to this message?
The creators of intoxics often seek to arouse an emotion so that false news is shared. If a message arouses anger, indignation or plays on your compassion, be vigilant, as First Draft, an NGO specializing in verification issues, points out.
- Find out if the info has been verified
By entering keywords into a search engine, check if the rumor has not already been deciphered by media or sites specializing in rumor verification, such as Hoaxbuster.
- When in doubt, do not share
It is better to refrain from sharing a questionable message, to avoid giving it visibility. Intoxication can have real consequences: the Nantes University Hospital is regularly the victim of an intoxication at least ten years old, which results in clogging up its telephone lines.
If in doubt about the authenticity of a message, contact the 20 Minutes fact-checking team via the form below or contact us on Twitter.
- For further
Find our tips for checking an image and a video. You can also take two online courses (in French here, in English here) to consolidate your information verification reflexes. More fun, slip into the skin of an intoxicator, in order to understand the phenomena of virality around intoxicants. The game, in English, can be found here.
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