COVID-19 and social media

Fernández, Patxi Pérez; Aríztegui, Miguel Moreno

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the world and changed our lifestyle in many aspects. From the discovery of the new virus and the clinical presentation of the associated illness, many news have flooded our media and caused significant attention from the public. The rapid spread of the disease is only comparable to the accelerated appearance of news populating traditional media channels as well as social media portals. The concern for the public, the medical professionals, and the governments around the world has been the truthfulness, accuracy, and verification of the information transmitted. A call for regulations has been made by some, while others advocate for a complete freedom of speech and information. The basic concepts of true journalism as well as the interest in the manipulation of the information are suddenly colliding into a different battlefield and have created on their own a different form of pandemic, the infodemic.