COVID-19 attacks democracies
April 2 was International Fact-Checking Day. We salute fact-checkers and journalists who've been working hard to make credible information and facts on COVID-19 available to the world at such a difficult time.
This week we are troubled by the ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted democracies and exacerbated inequalities in our regions. Governments around the world are banning fake news about the crisis and cracking down on their critics while they’re at it. In this issue of The Checklist, we look at examples from Brazil, the Philippines and Hungary where state leaders have taken undue advantage of the current crisis.
In this issue of the newsletter, we have some tips and tools to help you investigate fake news and disinformation around COVID-19. In the coming weeks we will continue to bring you updates on Meedan's efforts to address misinformation on COVID-19 and strengthen the work of many of our partners.
Here's your weekly roundup!
Facebook, Twitter bar video of Brazilian president endorsing unproven antiviral drug (NBC News)
This week heads of some states have been in the news for the wrong reasons. It's rare for tech companies to take down posts from a head of state, but Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's posts with false cures for COVID-19 led Facebook and Twitter to do just that. In a video Bolsonaro falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine is effective in treating the virus. The drug in question, chloroquine phosphate, can cause serious health consequences, including death, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned. Facebook said it removed the video, while Twitter said it required Bolsonaro to remove the video himself to go on using Twitter.
"Twitter recently announced the expansion of its rules to cover content that could be against public health information provided by official sources and could put people at greater risk of transmitting COVID-19."- Twitter
Duterte's special powers bill punishes fake news by jail time, up to P1-M fine (Rappler)
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has warned people who violate coronavirus lockdown rules and abuse medical workers that they would be shot dead. Duterte's comment comes at a time when the country is witnessing an increase in the number of people tested positive with COVID-19 and is experiencing a lack of facilities and equipment for healthcare workers. A week before this, a last-minute amendment was made to Duterte's special powers bill to contain the pandemic - this was an expansion of the section on penalties, which now specifically punishes the spreading of fake and alarming information by up 2 months in prison and fines. Former Supreme Court spokesperson Ted Te said the subparagraph on the punishment of fake news would step on the constitutional right to free speech. Te said it can be questioned as being vague considering that it trenches on freedom of expression and of speech.
"Since there is no law that criminizalizes or defines fake news as a crime, and the special powers law does not also define what fake news is, it cannot be criminalized. That would be void." - Ted Te
The Digital Response to the Outbreak of COVID-19 (Sean McDonald)
The COVID-19 response has, both positively and negatively, illustrated the importance of using technologies to mobilize and coordinate response efforts. There is no shortage of inspirational stories emerging from the COVID-19 response — many of which involve the use of technology, but very few of which are driven by it. Emergencies, especially at a global scale, cause fear and, in many instances, truly awesome generosity. No matter your interpretation of the COVID-19 response, one thing should be universal: emergencies are not a blank cheque for state or digital platform power. And amid this historic, global investment in the international connections between our public health systems, it’s absolutely essential that we use technology to amplify institutional capacity and state powers — while we also invest in designing oversight and governance that appeal to established, global standards for the exercise of exceptional powers.
"In times of emergency, with the best of intentions, people mobilize the best of their capacities to respond, and those capacities are increasingly digital. If we’re going to realize the value of those good intentions, we’ll need governance to ensure that the direction they pave serves us all." - Sean McDonald for CIGI
Yes, Russia spreads coronavirus lies. But they were made in America (The Washington Post)
Domestic production of misinformation is booming in the United States., according to the authors of this article. They believe that while it is true there is Russian and Chinese disinformation pushing various narratives regarding COVID-19, foreign actors are often merely curating messages that Americans created. The authors present the example of the misleading theory that the virus was created by a lab in China. According to their research, the first English-language tweet suggesting this theory was on Jan. 20. It came from an anonymous conservative American woman. It’s not just local hashtags and memes that fuel foreign disinformation, however. Websites peddling conspiracy theories, have also been retweeted and reposted routinely. Among those accounts circulating the false stories are pro-Russian and Russian state media-affiliated social media influencers. It’s worth noting, though, that these sites also continue to draw on narratives once disseminated by the Soviet KGB.
"Many commentators have discussed various ways in which the United States has acted to make the coronavirus crisis worse than it could or should be. The public’s own role in spreading global disinformation needs to be added to that list. We have to address our own culpability in the problems that are fomented by disinformation. At a time when most news and information people digest is socially mediated, we need to create citizens and platforms that are more resilient to lies and more accepting of facts." - Darren L. Linvill and Patrick Warren for The Washington Post
Hungary’s Viktor Orbán now rules by decree in troubling example of how coronavirus fear enables authoritarians to tighten their grip (The Conversation)
Hungary's parliament on Monday granted Prime Minister Viktor Orban an open-ended right to rule by decree and introduced jail sentences for anyone hindering measures to curb the spread of the virus or spreading false information about the pandemic. Several European nations have declared states of emergency to manage the coronavirus crisis, granting extra powers to limit the movement of citizens. But Hungary stands out for the severe punishment clauses included in its legislation. Under its provisions, intentionally spreading false information about the virus will be punishable by a prison sentence of up to five years. The European Union has warned Hungary not to flout democracy with laws to control the pandemic.
“There is a widespread belief that the Chinese style of governance won the war against the coronavirus there. China showed the West how to manage the spread of the disease, by taking extreme authoritarian measures to keep people on lockdown and slow the spread of infection. Faced with the prospect of tens of thousands – even hundreds of thousands – of deaths, such actions have never looked more tempting to Western governments.” - Umut Korkut, Chair professor, Glasgow Caledonian University in The Conversation
YouTube profits from videos promoting unproven Covid-19 treatments (The Guardian)
YouTube is running advertisements with videos pushing herbs, meditative music, and potentially unsafe over-the-counter supplements as cures for Covid-19, according to a report published by the Tech Transparency Project, a not-for-profit watchdog organization. YouTube initially prohibited the monetization of videos about COVID-19 under its “sensitive events” policy, which bars advertisements on videos regarding armed conflicts, terrorist acts, and “global health crises”. However, it reversed that policy on 11 March, saying it wanted to “make sure news organizations and creators can continue producing quality videos in a sustainable way”. It then enabled coronavirus video ads for “a limited number of channels”, and on 2 April it expanded monetization of content mentioning or featuring Covid-19 to all creators and news organizations.
“In lifting restrictions on advertising in videos about the coronavirus pandemic, YouTube has made disinformation lucrative for some unscrupulous content creators and a liability for the brands that unwittingly support them.” - Tech Transparency Project
Open Source Investigation
Investigating Coronavirus Fakes And Disinfo? Here Are Some Tools For You
Bellingcat
Here are Bellingcat's tools and guides to conduct online investigations at this difficult, confusing, and dangerous time:
This is the free Bellingcat Online Investigation Toolkit, put together by Christiaan Triebert.
This is Aric Toler’s guide to using reverse image search (especially useful if you think an old photo is being recycled online).
But *how* to figure out *when* a particular photo was taken? Especially with many photos of empty city streets sometimes being recycled from the olden days as well? This case study (featuring Russian assassins!) is of use here..
The number of flights may currently be dwindling, but they are still out there. Here is Giancarlo Fiorella’s guide to flight tracking for beginners.
Charlotte Godart has pulled together a guide for doing research on TweetDeck. Twitter is swarming with disinformation right now, and TweetDeck can help you greatly simplify your research, saving precious time.
Here is Aric Toler’s guide to using phone contact apps for digital research.
A worldwide panic is a great time for scammers to thrive! Using cryptocurrency, meanwhile, is an especially easy way to scam people. With that in mind, here is Brenna Smith on how to analyze bitcoin transactions.
Need to investigate one of those fake doctors who naturally pop up during a pandemic? Nathan Patin’s guide to investigating LinkedIn may be just the ticket.
Google Earth can be a great way to figuring out if people are where they say they are. This case study can help you geolocate the liars and goofs.
If you are delving into content that may be disturbing, please read Hannah Ellis’ guide to vicarious trauma — and what to do about it — beforehand.