A fake news hack and debunking hydroxychloroquine (again)
This week we're following developments of a hacking scheme that broke into real news sites to plant fake stories, as well as new evidence that exposure to false health information can lead to real-world consequences.
Plus, as always, Meedan's in-house health expert Dr. Seema Yasmin gets to the bottom of some key COVID-19 science questions from our audience of fact-checkers and journalists. If you want to ask our team of public health experts a question about the pandemic, send us a message and we'll dig into the research for you.
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Your COVID-19 questions
Journalist and medical doctor, Dr. Seema Yasmin shares weekly highlights from Meedan's public health journalism tool, learnaboutcovid19.org.
What does the scientific literature say about using hydroxychloroquine to prevent, treat or cure COVID-19?
Dr. Seema says: "Hydroxychloroquine is not an effective treatment for COVID-19. Its utility keeps being questioned because of misinformation shared by high ranking U.S. officials, including the President. A viral video featuring discredited doctors touting hydroxychloroquine was watched millions of times in the first day it was released in late July. Social media platforms deleted the video but only after it was shared widely on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and on right wing websites. The video also wrongly said that zinc and the antibiotic azithromycin treat COVID-19, further confusing a public overwhelmed with mixed messages. The resurgence of this misinformation – now discredited with even more evidence that these medicines do not treat COVID-19 – demonstrates the importance of a frequently-updated and expertly fact-checked source of information such as Meedan’s Expert Database." (More information from our experts here)
Why are we repurposing old drugs to fight new diseases, and what might be the implications for COVID-19?
Dr. Seema says: "Studying older drugs against a new virus is a normal part of epidemic control, particularly in the early stages of a contagion caused by a novel virus for which there are no specific treatments. Some of the confusion about repurposed drugs like hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as COVID-19 treatments might come from the fact they were studied by credible scientists, but those studies provided evidence that the medicines do not treat COVID-19. Study inclusion does not prove a medicine’s legitimacy, and the continued inclusion of some drugs in clinical studies bolsters the spread of misinformation." (More information from our experts here)
Is the Russian vaccine for COVID-19 an effective cure?
Dr. Seema says: "Described as a “Sputnik moment” by one Russian financier, news that a Russian vaccine would be approved by August 10, 2020 came as a surprise in late July. Data from Phase 1 and 2 vaccine safety trials had not been shared with scientists around the world. Further breaking from scientific convention, the Russian vaccine is set to be approved while it is going through Phase 3 trials. Phase 3 trials assess a vaccine's efficacy and add more evidence about the vaccine's safety. Vaccines are usually approved after data from Phase 3 trials is reviewed by independent experts. A failed, rushed and harmful vaccine can undermine vaccine research at large and bolster anti-vaccine groups that are already mobilized against a yet-to-be-discovered vaccine."(Read what our our experts say here)
Top stories
Hackers Broke Into Real News Sites to Plant Fake Stories (Wired)
Wired reports that a disinformation operation broke into the content management systems of Eastern European media outlets in a campaign to spread misinformation about NATO. The campaign targeted media sites from Poland to Lithuania, and has spread false stories about US military aggression, NATO soldiers spreading coronavirus, NATO planning a full-on invasion of Belarus, and more.
“The propagandists have created and disseminated disinformation since at least March 2017, with a focus on undermining NATO and the US troops in Poland and the Baltics; they’ve posted fake content on everything from social media to pro-Russian news websites. In some cases, FireEye says, Ghostwriter has deployed a bolder tactic: hacking the content management systems of news websites to post their own stories. They then disseminate their literal fake news with spoofed emails, social media, and even op-eds the propagandists write on other sites that accept user-generated content.”— Andy Greenberg, Wired
How much does fake coronavirus news affect people’s real-life health behavior? (Nieman Lab)
Exposure to false information about the pandemic can change people’s actions — but the size of the effect is small, at least in Ireland, where researchers published these findings in a working paper (not yet peer-reviewed) out of the Ireland’s University College Dublin and University College Cork.
"In this study, we exposed participants to fake news stories suggesting, for example, that certain foods might help protect against Covid-19, or that a forthcoming vaccine might not be safe. We observed only very small effects on intentions to engage in the behaviors targeted by the stories, suggesting that the behavioral effects of one-off fake news exposure might be weaker than previously believed. We also examined whether providing a warning about fake news might reduce susceptibility, but found no effects. This suggests that, if fake news does affect real-world health behavior, generic warnings such as those used by governments and social media companies are unlikely to be ineffective." — Ciara M. Greene and Gillian Murphy, University College Dublin and University College Cork
What’s new at Meedan
Another episode of Misinfodemia will be live on Instagram this week, and we're talking with Meedan's public health expert in Arizona, Dr. Saskia Popescu.
In Calling for Equitable Information Access, Let’s Remember the Disability Digital Divide
In a new series by Meedan's team of health experts at the Digital Health Lab, we write about how access to information needs to include disability in the conversation.
Endorsement: Ecuadorian Journalists in the Health Emergency
Meedan supports the Ecuadorian journalism community statement demanding better working conditions for journalists covering COVID-19 in Ecuador from media news outlets and the Inter-institutional Committee for the Protection of Journalists and Communication Workers, our Latin America lead writes.