Combating the infodemic with digital civility

It is the worst of times, the epoch of incredulity, the season of darkness, and the summer of despair! News about the tragic death or serious condition of our near and dear is devastating us every day unlike before. Wealth, status and prestige are getting defeated hands down.

All hell broke loose, literally, with the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic. It has pushed almost every family into untold fear and deep depths of despair. Even as the political masters shifted their attention to elections and devotees to holy rivers, the monster virus rose from the ashes only to create piles of ash from the heaps of dead bodies of the hapless citizens who lost their fight for a hospital bed, or an oxygen cylinder or a suitable injection on time.

The unintelligible virus has posed a serious challenge to the entire human race that takes pride in achieving unbelievable technological revolution and scientific advancement. Indiscriminate misuse of the same technology, alas, is discreetly causing enormous damage to the societal health.

Imagine this. Your neighbour tells you that Covid-19 spread can be tackled by eating bitter gourd curry along with the seasonal mango pickle (Aavakaaya) in every meal for 12 days. A close friend meets you to suggest that a particular concoction should be consumed at 5 am every day.

Another gentleman says that black masks you use are prone to attract more virus. At the same time, your close family member sends you a video that gives graphic detail of coronavirus' spread in lungs based on the imagination of a money-spinning YouTuber.

Your son forwards an astrologer's clarion call: stop using any medicine from today as celestial adjustments wiped out the virus yesterday at 11.42 pm. Your colleague, at the same point of time, strongly suggests you to consult a particular babaji who firmly claimed to have cured 20,000 Corona patients so far only with his touch. A morning walker gives you a solid reason to believe that one in every family is bound to die due to the virus till August.

This is what is exactly happening every minute to you, me and everyone. A friend, a well-wisher, a subordinate, a relative, a member of your housing society et al bombard you with such information sans scientific back up 24 by 7. The 'information sharing' is done through a little devise we always carry, i.e. mobile phone.

The deluge of information in the form of contradictory suggestions, dichotomic observations and diametrically opposite view points on every issue has been hitting us every minute through this cute machine. Mediocracy is ruling the roost and it is flowing through our smart phones. We read these messages and watch videos eyes glued to the small screens and assimilate the received information without knowing the fact that they have a telling impact on our body and mind.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is struggling hard to deal with infodemic, a portmanteau of "information" and "epidemic" that typically refers to a rapid and far-reaching spread of both accurate and inaccurate information about something. Too much information including false or misleading information in digital and physical environments during the outbreak has become as serious issue as the deadly virus itself.

The information we spread through social messaging aaps, such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Messenger etc, and social networking platforms like Facebook, Twitter etc, without verifying the veracity can cause huge impact on receivers. WHO says that infodemic is causing confusion and risk-taking behaviours that can harm health. More importantly, it also leads to mistrust in health authorities and undermines the public health response.

With the rapid growth of digitisation, information is travelling very fast and it is getting amplified like the virus. Health officials say that infodemic can intensify or lengthen outbreaks when people are unsure about what they need to do to protect their health and the health of people around them. A cross-regional statement on Covid infodemic, signed by 132 nations, observes that the spread of disinformation, fake news and doctored videos foment violence and divide communities.

Here is a classic example. A politician in Karnataka held a press conference to announce that just two drops of lemon juice in the nose can increase oxygen saturation in the body and prevent Covid-19 infection. A man from Andhra Pradesh claimed that he would pay Rs.50,000 to those who can prove that the lemon therapy failed to yield desired result.

A 43-year-old teacher from Raichur, carried away by the so called lemon therapy, poured lemon juice into his nose the other day. After puking, the teacher died on his way to the hospital. WHO and other scientific establishments, in their websites, stated that there is no scientific evidence of lemon juice being able to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

A doctor saab, who is releasing his videos on daily basis during the pandemic, asks people not to go for CT scans, while another self-claimed medical practitioner contradicts the widely popular method of Covid prevention, vapour inhalation. Lakhs of videos made by all and sundry are getting circulated on Covid-19 based on unscientific assumptions and dangerous imaginations.

Fake news on lockdown resulted in a mad rush to grocery shops. A mischievous feed on a fruit vendor of a particular community impacted the business of many fruit vendors of the same community. Another case in point is, alleged irregular menstrual cycle as a Covid vaccine side effect. Experience sharing on this may help researchers but a sweeping declaration or a blanket comment on this on social media can create doubts in the minds of all women.

Pandemic time quackery is not a new phenomenon. During the 1889-1892 Russian Flu and the 1918-1920 Spanish Flu, researchers observed bogus claims but conspiracy theories and false representation touched new heights with the availability of smart phones and data.

People should realise that the text messages, photographs and videos circulated by us may create fear, anxiety, stress and worry among the receivers. In turn, they would weaken immune system and can cause cardiovascular damage, gastrointestinal problems like ulcers. It can further lead to accelerated aging, and even result in premature death. Constant stress makes it harder to control ailments.

Hence, mobile manners is very important for all of us. We all should become responsible communicators and we should be accountable for the information we generate and share. Since information is power, George Byron rightly said that a drop of ink may make a million think. A mobile message can make a million shiver in fear.

Social media can be best utilised to seek or extend help, highlight an issue, and share pure information. It is the best platform to share jokes or comedy videos to provide fun for the fear-filled people. Folks, time to be digitally disciplined and civilized.

Here are panchsutras for the best use of our mobile phones during pandemic time.

1) Realise the fact that whatever you transform through your mobile has magical power on the minds of the receivers

2) You are responsible-socially, morally and legally- for the material you generate or forward

3) Don't write or forward anything outside your area of expertise. When you are commenting on the issues of other domain, better mention that it is purely "my opinion"

4) Develop the habit of fact-checking. Check the veracity of every material (text, photo, graph or video) if it sounds abnormal, unbelievable or hyper in nature.

5) Discuss the issue of 'digital civility', 'online discipline' and 'mobile manners' with your family members, friends and others for a healthy and harmonious virtual world.

(The author is a senior journalist, journalism educator and communication consultant)