Misinformation in times of coronavirus

<p class="rtejustify">The abuse of information is a complex phenomenon. In a moment of prolonged confinement, uncertainty and fear lead us to consume and share more information, while we lower our guard when it comes to differentiating what is and what is not true information. In times like the one we are living, this abuse grows with the proliferation of digital media and the desire of those who spread interested arguments.</p>

<p class="rtejustify">One month after beginning the confinement by the state of alarm in Spain, the Sociological Research Centre (CIS by its initials in Spanish) publishes a barometer. This survey tries to evaluate the emotional condition and opinion of Spanish people (there are other recent studies with a similar purpose, such as the one published by TCA). It includes a question (P. 6) whose answers I would like to stop and analyse, when dealing with the problem of false and misleading news, and that faces opposite positions: the prohibition versus the freedom of information.</p>

<p class="rtejustify">The results of these responses allow us to infer the characteristics of the respondents who respond differently to the question thus formulated:</p>

<p class="rtejustify"><em>Q.6. Do you think that at this time, the dissemination of misleading and unsubstantiated information and hoaxes by networks and the media should be prohibited, with all information on the pandemic being acquired by official sources, or do you think that total freedom should be maintained for the dissemination of news and information?</em></p>

<p class="rtejustify">66.7% of those surveyed were in favour of banning hoaxes and misleading information, more than twice as many as those who defended freedom of expression (30.8%), but it is interesting to note the differences between sociodemographic characteristics, subjective identification of social class and ideological self-placement and vote in the last General Elections held in November 2019.</p>

<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
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            <p class="rtecenter"><strong>PREDOMINANT PROFILE OF THOSE WHO DEFEND THE BAN (66,7%)</strong></p>
            </td>
            <td>
            <p class="rtecenter"><strong>PREDOMINANT PROFILE OF THOSE DEFENDING FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION (30.8%)</strong></p>
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            <p class="rtecenter">Women from 18 to 24 years old</p>
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            <td>
            <p class="rtecenter">Men over 45 years old</p>
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        <tr>
            <td>
            <p class="rtecenter">Residents of small municipalities with less than 10,000 inhabitants</p>
            </td>
            <td>
            <p class="rtecenter">Residents of large municipalities with more than 400,000 inhabitants</p>
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>
            <p class="rtecenter">With studies up to 1st stage of secondary and vocational training</p>
            </td>
            <td>
            <p class="rtecenter">With higher education</p>
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>
            <p class="rtecenter">Subjective identification: Lower-middle class and lower-poor</p>
            </td>
            <td>
            <p class="rtecenter">Subjective identification: upper and upper-middle class</p>
            </td>
        </tr>
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            <td>
            <p class="rtecenter">General Vote Nov 2019: PSOE and En Común-Unidas Podemos voters (Navarra Suma and Coalición Canaria-Nueva Canarias voters in specific territorial areas).</p>
            </td>
            <td>
            <p class="rtecenter">General Vote Nov 2019: VOX and PP</p>

            <p class="rtecenter">voters (CUP and JxCat voters in specific territorial areas)</p>
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>
            <p class="rtecenter">Ideological self-location: Very polarized both left and right</p>
            </td>
            <td>
            <p class="rtecenter">Ideological self-location: Very polarized to the right (8 and 7, being 10 maximum self-location to the right).</p>
            </td>
        </tr>
    </tbody>
</table>

<p class="rtejustify">&nbsp;</p>

<p class="rtejustify">The debate between prohibition and freedom of expression is a delicate. Trying to resolve it via legislation is very complex. There were no common standings in all EU countries at the end of the previous legislature, so it was postponed on the agenda for debate in the new European Parliament, before the pandemic arrived and took care of disrupting the plans for it.</p>

<p class="rtejustify">In any case, disinformation was not confined, and the fight against hoaxes and information abuses must not be confined and rested either. It is time to contribute with the use of new technologies (artificial intelligence, collaborative tools...) to improve the detection and verification of news and false mentions in social networks, as well as the development of tools to facilitate the awareness of the problem and to enable society to protect itself against misleading contents.</p>