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Meeting COVID-19 Misinformation and Disinformation Head On
webpublichealth.jhu.edu·publichealth.jhu.edu/2021/meeting-covid-19-misinformation...
Relevant to AI safety discussions around information integrity, AI-generated misinformation, and governance of AI systems that moderate or amplify health-related content online; provides a public health lens on disinformation challenges.
Metadata
Importance: 28/100organizational reportanalysis
Summary
This Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health resource addresses strategies for combating COVID-19 misinformation and disinformation, examining how false information spreads and what public health institutions can do to counter it. It explores the intersection of information integrity, public trust, and health communication during a global crisis.
Key Points
- •Distinguishes between misinformation (unintentional false info) and disinformation (deliberately deceptive content) in the COVID-19 context
- •Examines how social media platforms amplify health misinformation and the challenges this poses for public health responses
- •Discusses institutional strategies for proactive, clear communication to build public trust and counter false narratives
- •Highlights the role of media literacy and public education in reducing susceptibility to health-related false claims
- •Addresses coordinated inauthentic behavior and foreign influence operations targeting COVID-19 public health messaging
Cited by 1 page
| Page | Type | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security | Organization | 63.0 |
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**A Q&A WITH TARA KIRK SELL**
Long before SARS-CoV-2 was identified, misinformation and disinformation about a plethora of health topics have run rampant online.
There’s a distinct difference between the two: Misinformation is a broader classification of false or inaccurate claims shared largely unwittingly and without the intention to deceive. Disinformation is a specific subset of misinformation created with deliberate intentions to deceive. Both have caused significant and real harm throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
While Facebook, Google, and Twitter are stepping up accountability measures on their platforms, truly addressing the problem requires larger solutions and a focused national approach.
The Center for Health Security’s new report, **National Priorities to Combat Misinformation and Disinformation for COVID-19 and Future Public Health Threats: A Call for a National Strategy**, offers a comprehensive plan for a national approach to stamping out mis- and disinformation. Tara Kirk Sell, a senior scholar at the Center and lead author of the report, answers some questions about both the problem and the proposed solutions.
### Q&A
**What are some common threads of mis- and disinformation in the context of COVID-19?**
Usually during health emergencies we see 4 types of false information: **mischaracterization of the disease or protective measures** that are needed; **false treatments** or medical interventions; **scapegoating** of groups of people; and **conspiracy theories**—often about the existence or origin of the pathogen, profiteering, or politics. We did an analysis of misinformation during the Ebola crisis in 2014 and are seeing many of the same themes in this outbreak today.
There are four pillars in the proposed strategy:
- Intervene against false and damaging content as well as the sources propagating it
- Promote and ensure the abundant presence and dissemination of factual information
- Increase the public’s resilience to misinformation and disinformation
- Coordination of a national strategy that includes input from social and news media, government, national security officials, public health officials, scientists, and the public
**What would it look like to treat this as an issue of national security?**
Elevating it from a public health risk communication issue to something that acknowledges that the spread of false health-related information, especially during health emergencies, has implications for national security.
The National Security Council would be responsible for de
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