oa Complottheorieën en misinformatie tijdens de coronapandemie

Conspiracy theories and misinformation during the Covid-19 pandemic. New phenomenon or historical recurrence?

The coronavirus pandemic caused, in addition to its immediate demographic consequences, a high degree of social unrest. This unrest was intensified by the global spread of misinformation about the disease, primarily through the use of social media and the Internet. As early as February 2020, the World Health Organization described the situation as an ‘infodemic’, a flood of misinformation that spread fear to the public. Almost every aspect of the disease was contested and debated online, from its origins and potential cures to government guidelines and vaccine side-effects. In this article, we seek to understand how unique the Covid-19 ‘infodemic’ was, by comparing it to examples of misinformation and conspiracy theories during earlier pandemics. Did we witness a new social phenomenon due to the rise of the internet and social media, or do the spread of conspiracy theories and misinformation during pandemics form part of a repeated historical pattern?