Pandemic feminism and text message misinformation
We're grateful to many of our partners and fact-checkers in different regions who are diligently fact-checking social media posts, messages on closed messaging platforms and media stories about COVID-19. In this rapidly evolving pandemic, social media platforms, newsrooms, research institutes and many others are taking proactive measures to provide access to credible information and critical resources required to handle this crisis. Meedan is also addressing the needs of its own global team and partners across different regions. We're working to design programs that proactively respond to the challenges posed by COVID-19. This statement from Ed Bice, Meedan's CEO, captures our commitment as an organization to respond to the global pandemic.
Please join us to discuss opportunities for virtual conferences and other digital collaborations until the time we can meet in-person. Stay safe! We hope you're practicing physical distancing + social solidarity.
Here's your weekly roundup!
All our Coronavirus fact-checks in one place (Africa Check)
As we navigate the murky waters of the COVID-19 pandemic, our partner Africa Check has been busy fact-checking misinformation on WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter and news articles. They've grouped their fact-checks into six broad categories and will add more categories as they encounter new issues. If you've had questions about cures and prevention or predictions related to COVID-19, follow Africa Check's #Live Guide and encourage everyone around you to share accurate information during these difficult times.
"Africa Check has been busy fact-checking viral WhatsApp messages, Facebook posts, tweets and news articles in recent weeks. We will continue to do so as long as there is a need for accurate information during this difficult time." - Africa Check
COVID-19: WHO, UNICEF and UNDP Partner with WhatsApp to Get Real Time Health Information to Billions around the World (UNDP)
The circulation of rumours and misinformation during a pandemic can be a matter of life and death. Since the time COVID-19 started spreading, fake messages telling people about new cures for the virus have gone viral on WhatsApp. In order to contain the spread of such false and misleading information related to COVID-19, WhatsApp has launched two initiatives. It has awarded a $1 million grant to the Poynter Institute’s International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) to help crack down on misinformation.It also launched a 'Coronavirus Information Hub' in partnership with global partners that include the IFCN and World Health Organization (WHO). The information hub can be accessed at whatsapp.com/coronavirus; it will provide guidelines on how to stay connected during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Think about the messages that you receive, because not everything you are sent about coronavirus may be accurate. Verify the facts with other trusted official sources or fact checkers. If you aren’t sure something’s true, don’t forward it." - WhatsApp
Here’s how social media can combat the coronavirus ‘infodemic’ (MIT Technology Review)
Have you found yourself following social media more actively recently? As we become more isolated physically, social media and the web become important sites for information dissemination. However, without strategies to contain the dissemination of bad information, social-media platforms continue to spread misinformation in various ways. In addition to the problem of false and misleading content, there is also the problem of transmission. Government officials have activated emergency alert systems across mobile phones, cable TV, and radio to reach the public in situations of emergency. The same emergency alert systems need to include social platform companies, so that the transmission of critical and credible information is possible.
"Assessing the impact of misinformation is complicated, and once it is politicized it can can also be overstated or understated. Yet, as social-media companies have learned, doing nothing about abuse on their platforms can kill. Social distancing, though, will surely make our ability to combat an infodemic more difficult, especially as our touch points with our neighbors dwindle." - Joan Donovan
The Coronavirus Is a Disaster for Feminism (The Atlantic)
As a physical illness, the coronavirus appears to affect women less severely. However, with the spread of the pandemic, we are witnessing closure of schools, nurseries and support systems for child-care. Caring and looking after older people, patients and children during this period of household isolation will fall more heavily on women, because of the existing structure of the workforce. Couples are making tough decisions on how to divide up this extra unpaid labor. Dual-income couples will soon have to decide which one of them takes the hit in terms of income. Single parents face even harder decisions in contexts where many of them are women.
There are experiences of people from other epidemics and health crises. Academics who studied these episodes found that they had deep, long-lasting effects on gender equality. These experiences should inform the current response to COVID-19. In both rich and poor countries, campaigners expect domestic-violence rates to rise during lockdown periods. Further epidemics are inevitable, and the temptation to argue that gender is a side issue, a distraction from the real crisis, must be resisted. What we do now will affect the lives of millions of women and girls in future outbreaks.
“As a collective academic group, we knew there would be an outbreak that came out of China, that shows you how globalization spreads disease, that’s going to paralyze financial systems, and there was no pot of money ready to go, no governance plan … We knew all this, and they didn't listen. So why would they listen to something about women?” - Clare Wenham, London School of Economics
Huge text message campaigns spread coronavirus fake news (Financial Times)
Text-based misinformation hit the United States last weekend. The false message carried an urgent warning alerting people about President Donald Trump mandating a nationwide quarantine in response to the coronavirus outbreak. The sources appeared to be reliable, according to those who received and shared these text messages. US officials believe there could be a Russian or Chinese involvement in this campaign. Experts are finding it hard to trace the origins of text message campaigns because of their copy-and-paste format. It is therefore also difficult to say whether these were sent out by pranksters or were coordinated attacks. However, we are being warned that there will be more of this to come.
"But actually, an old-school, SMS-based spam campaign is all you need,” he said,
adding that his non-profit — which works with partners to help journalists fact check
texts sent through private messaging apps — is now receiving “hundreds of messages
a day” about coronavirus misinformation. - Ed Bice, CEO, Meedan
Going Virtual: How Meedan is Doing the Conference Thing Online (Meedan)
This year many of the conferences and events on journalism, technology and digital rights have been cancelled or postponed due to the public health risks caused by COVID-19. While this is a loss for the entire community and we don't want to put anyone at risk, there's an opportunity here for us to come together and hold a virtual conference. How do we make conferences more accessible to all? This includes participants from emerging economies who may encounter visa restrictions and people with responsibilities and/ or disabilities. We'd like to make this work for everyone, and we'd like your suggestions in making this happen. Email us at hello@meedan.com to get started.
"We’re working with our communities to make lasting change out of this emergency situation. The civic tech community is evaluating software and practices for conferences and hackathons. We’re also expanding our online developer community. Let’s build something together!" - Karen Reilly
Events & Opportunities
Urgent Call for Papers: COVID-19 & Misinfodemics
The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS)
HKS invites concise, empirical papers (peer-reviewed, 3000 words) or commentaries (edited, 1500 words) from all disciplines and methodologies, including case studies, experimental research, qualitative and ethnographic research, data and network sciences.
HKS estimates that empirical papers will be published one month after submission, and commentaries will be published one week after submission.
All papers and commentaries will be widely distributed to a variety of stakeholders, including politicians, journalists, and researchers. For more information: misinforeview@hks.harvard.edu