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The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our lives almost overnight. In this unsettling time, with rapidly shifting information inundating social media and the news, it’s not surprising that coronavirus myths still persist.
The pandemic becomes an 'infodemic'
Protect yourself against coronavirus myths
It’s important to protect yourself and your family — especially children, who can be misled and become unnecessarily fearful — from misleading and false information. The best defense against this “infodemic” of myths and misinformation is to turn to trusted sources:
- Government agencies, such as Centers for Disease Control, Coronavirus.gov, or those of your state, county, and city
- Reliable media outlets, such as Google News, Time, or the Facebook Coronavirus Information Center
It’s also important to prevent the sharing of misleading information and memes. The media resource First Draft offers some tips and tools to verify online information. Among them:
- Is the source impartial, or does it appear to have an agenda?
- Can you find other evidence that verifies the claim?
- Does the meme seem designed to arouse emotions, whether positive or negative?
