Almost half of British adults online exposed to coronavirus fake news

LONDON: Almost half of the British adults using internet have been exposed to factually incorrect or misleading information about the coronavirus pandemic in the last few days, Britain’s media regulator Office of Communications (OFCOM) has said in a report.

The report said that the most common falsehood about the viral disease was that drinking water could flush out the virus. This theory was seen by 35% of the respondents to OFCOM's weekly survey.

24% of online adults claimed that they encountered fake news suggesting that gargling salt water and avoiding cold and hot food/drink would alleviate the effects of the virus. This information has been classified as false.

While the majority of the respondents (55%) did not believe the fake information they encountered online, about 40% did not know what information to trust. This is more alarming for people who are between the ages of 18-24 with 54% of people in this age group feeling confused about the information about this virus available on internet.

While mainstream broadcasters and the government remained highly trustworthy, most people were wary of trusting the information they encountered on social media with only 21% of people believing what they saw on social media.

Messaging applications like Whatsapp have also been used to convey information, both real and fake. 26% of respondents believed what they saw on these platforms.

Yih-Choung Teh, who serves as OFCOM’S Group Director for Strategy and Research, said: “People are turning to public authorities and traditional broadcasters for trusted information about COVID-19, and the vast majority say they’re closely following official advice.

“With so much false information circulating online, it’s never been more important that people can cut through the confusion and find accurate, trustworthy and credible sources of news and advice.”

The survey consisted of 2,000 adults who had online access. The results will be shared weekly to know exactly how audiences respond to information about the virus.

Earlier, many celebrities including boxer Amir Khan propagated a conspiracy theory which stated that 5G had something to do with the spread of coronavirus. This is considered to be absolutely false but many 5G towers in the country have been attacked in the aftermath of this conspiracy.

Previously, world leaders including US President downplayed the threat of the virus. Even UK Prime Minister was seen shaking hands even after the government had issued social distancing guidelines.