That the coronavirus is a biological weapon developed by the United States. Or for China. Or for the United Kingdom. Or for Russia. Or for Iran. Or that it was created in a Canadian laboratory and stolen by two Chinese spies. Or that it is much less lethal than the flu. No, much more deadly than the flu. And so, according to Maldito Bulo's records, up to more than 200 lies or false information - only in Spanish - about SARS-CoV-2, the new coronavirus that has infected more than 300,000 people in more than 150 countries around the world, since last December. This infodemic , or misinformation that spreads faster than the virus, is full of contradictory and crazy lies or cures as miraculous as they are ineffective. Also some credible deception and, therefore, dangerous for public health. But who cares about all these lies?
“Any disinformation always responds to an intention. The key is to discover what is sought with lies, from generating social alarm through a hooliganism to political, geopolitical or even economic destabilization ”, explains Carme Colomina, expert in disinformation and global policies and researcher at CIDOB (Barcelona Center for International Affairs). Therefore, understanding who is behind the making of a hoax, or who benefits, can help unmask it. These are the main profiles:
The hooligan 2.0
"There is a part of some of these hoaxes that is like a 2.0 joke," says Carme Colomina. An example of this is the false letter circulated about the suspension of classes in Castilla y León, before it actually happened. "If anonymous calls were made to the institutes 20 years ago to announce a false bomb alarm and avoid, for example, an examination, this time a false letter has been issued announcing that all educational centers in a place must be closed ”, The disinformation expert points out as an example of a lie that tries to take advantage of the confusion.
The benefit of clicking
A recent analysis by News Guard , a journalistic website that rates the credibility of news portals, concludes that “the misinformation about the coronavirus outbreak is clearly outpacing the reliable information regarding its dissemination and interaction on the social networks of all the world". According to the study, at least 142 websites "have published false and potentially dangerous information" about the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Germany - the research only covers these four countries.
As an example, News Guard cites the case of Zero Hedge, an economic blog from the United States, fond of conspiracy theories and disseminator, among other pages, of the hoax about the theft of the coronavirus from a Canadian laboratory. Between December 1 (one month before the health crisis erupted) and February 28, it achieved 2.1 million reactions on social networks. During the same period, according to News Guard , the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention had 175,000 interactions, despite the fact that the web cdc.gov is the first result that appears on Facebook when searching for the word “coronavirus” in the North American country.
Political destabilization
The avalanche of information about the coronavirus, which coexists with often contradictory hoaxes, generates uncertainty in the audience. Just last Thursday, the National Police treated more than 7,000 people who raised questions about the veracity of messages they receive through social networks, according to the body's deputy director, José Ángel González.
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This is what happens when "the only message is confusion", analyzes EUvsDisinfo, a European Union team specialized in fighting the lies and half-truths that Russia spreads about Europe. This practice, according to the European team, responds to the Russian military theory on information warfare: “A narrative created preventively, that responds to the national interests of the State, can significantly reduce the impact of the activities of foreign forces. in the informative field, since, as a rule, they try to fill [spaces] in the information flow ”. In other words, the information war does not consist in “selling a certain idea” but in confusing the audience with excess information, especially in a crisis such as that of the coronavirus where scientists do not yet have all the answers.
And although it is difficult to discern who creates this disinformation, it is easier to know who benefits, or who takes advantage of the confusion. "There is a political use of disinformation, first to generate discontent about governments and their management and then to try to put their own political issues on the agenda," Carme Colomina analyzes. An example, according to the CIDOB expert, is "the extreme right's political use of the coronavirus, which has taken advantage of the situation to demand stricter controls at the borders" whatever the situation. " Or the avalanche of messages against the Chinese community on the Internet. "Uninformed, scared, vulnerable societies can increase pressure and discontent on their governments," adds Colomina.
Economic destabilization
“Even if it is difficult or impossible to demonstrate that there is disinformation directly thought or manipulated to have economic effects, the reality is that the stock markets are very sensitive to perceptions, rumors, uncertainty and, therefore, disinformation. "Concludes the Cidob expert. There are many previous examples. In April 2014, the New York Stock Exchange index plummeted after the Associated Press news agency's Twitter account was hacked and reported a bogus attack on the White House in which the then US President The US, Barack Obama, had been wounded. And although, as Colomina maintains, it is almost impossible to decipher who is behind these hoaxes, it is possible to know who benefits, at least from the uncertainty. The most recent example is from the two US Republican senators who have just been charged with allegedly using inside information to sell high-profit stocks before the market collapsed due to the coronavirus, a sign that disinformation always have any beneficiary.
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