New Delhi: Researchers at Cornell University have found that US President Donald Trump contributed the most to the spread of misinformation about the global Covid-19 pandemic.
The study, released Thursday, analysed 38 million articles published in the English media across the world and identified the most prominent topics of Covid-related misinformation from 1 January to 26 May this year.
According to the research, President Trump comprised 37.9 per cent of the overall “misinformation conversation”, making him the largest driver of “infodemic” falsehoods regarding Covid-19.
The study noted that misinformation about the highly infectious disease was a serious threat to global public health and if people were misled by unsubstantiated claims, they were less likely to observe official health advice.
“Health protection strategies such as hygiene, sanitation, social distancing, mask wearing, lockdowns, and other measures will be less effective if distrust of public health authorities becomes sufficiently widespread to substantially affect public behavior,” noted the study.
The global tally of Covid-19 cases has crossed 3.41 crore, with more than 10 lakh deaths. The US has been the worst affected country, with over 74 lakh cases and 2.11 lakh deaths.
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Trump feeds the misinformation beast
Since the beginning of the global pandemic, the US President has been called out on several occasions for inaccurate claims about the novel coronavirus.
In late April, Trump was ridiculed for suggesting researching whether coronavirus could be treated by injecting disinfectants into the body. He later said he was being sarcastic, but the Cornell study found that his comment led to over 30,000 new articles popping up in the “miracle cures” category.
Until July, Trump was never seen wearing a mask in public, one of the basic prevention measures that the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had recommended right from the start.
Not only did Trump not wear a mask — he even visited a mask-making factory without wearing one — but even questioned its use. Many Americans have similarly refused to wear masks, and the country has even seen anti-mask ‘protests’. The argument they make is that is that imposition violates their right to individual freedom. From being viewed as “muzzles” to inspiring ‘Burn Your Mask Challenge’, the mask became a matter of personal political.
Then, in early September, Trump retweeted a claim that the CDC cut the national Covid-19 death toll by 94 per cent, and that only 6 per cent of all the deaths reported were due to Covid. The tweet was deleted by Twitter for violating the platform’s rules.
The CDC said the 6 per cent of the deaths had Covid-19 as the “only cause mentioned”, but the other 94 per cent of deaths were listed as having at least one additional factor contributing to their death aside from coronavirus.
The Cornell Alliance for Science, which spearheaded the study, said one of its main aims was to promote science-based decision making. Dr Evanega, who was part of the research, said the study was initially submitted for peer review, but later withdrawn since the process was lengthy and the authors felt they had compelling public health information to share as quickly as possible.
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