Seite - 185 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19

185Does Debunking Work? Correcting COVID-19 Misinformation on Social Media policy,5 added confusion and distraction to an already chaotic infor- mation environment,6 heightened stigma and prejudice,7 and made it more difficult to implement needed health policy initiatives.8 Much of this misinformation is spreading on social media,9 which has included the use of bots and strategic disinformation campaigns.10 It is worth noting that social media has also played a construc- tive role. It has, for instance, been used as a tool for communicating preventative strategies and mapping the spread of the virus.11 And 5. Michael Liu et al, “Internet Searches for Unproven COVID-19 Therapies in the United States” Research Letter (29 April 2020) JAMA Intern Medicine at E1 DOI: <10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.1764>: “Demand for chloroquine and hydroxy- chloroquine increased substantially following endorsements by high-profile figures and remained high even after a death attributable to chloroquine-con- taining products was reported”. 6. See generally Amy Mitchell, J Baxter Oliphant & Elisa Shearer, “About Seven-in- Ten U.S. Adults Say They Need to Take Breaks From COVID-19 News” (29 April 2020) at 4, online: Pew Research Center <https://www.journalism.org/2020/04/29/ about-seven-in-ten-u-s-adults-say-they-need-to-take-breaks-from-covid-19- news/> (it was found that 86% believe that misinformation is causing either a great deal (49%) or some (37%) confusion about basic facts). See also Michael Sean Pepper & Stephanie Burton, “Sheer Volume of Misinformation Risks Diverting Focus from Fighting Coronavirus”, The Conversation (29 April 2020), online: <https://theconversation.com/sheer-volume-of-misinformation-risks-diverting- focus-from-fighting-coronavirus-137408>. 7. Harrison Mantas, “COVID-19 Infodemic Exacerbates Existing Religious and Racial Prejudices” (1 May 2020), online: Poynter <https://www.poynter.org/ reporting-editing/2020/covid-19-infodemic-exacerbates-existing-religious- and-racial-prejudices/> (“COVID-19 has inflamed fears of outsiders across the globe”). 8. See Leonardo Bursztyn et al, “Misinformation During a Pandemic” (2020) Becker Friedman Institute [working paper] at abstract: “While our findings cannot yet speak to long-term effects, they indicate that provision of misinformation in the early stages of a pandemic can have important consequences for how a disease ultimately affects the population.” See also Mian & Khan, “Public Confusion Leaves Citizens Unprepared for Combatting a Public Health Crisis”, supra note 1 at 2. 9. See Soroush Vosoughi, Deb Roy & Sinan Aral, “The Spread of True and False News Online” (2018) 359:6380 Science 1141 at 1141, DOI: <10.1126/science. aap9559>, where the authors analyzed millions of social media shares and came to the grim conclusion that “falsehood diffused significantly farther, faster, deeper, and more broadly than the truth in all categories of information.” 10. Ryan Ko, “Social Media Is Full of Bots Spreading COVID-19 Anxiety. Don’t Fall for It” (2 April 2020), online: Science Alert <https://www.sciencealert.com/bots- are-causing-anxiety-by-spreading-coronavirus-misinformation>: “These fake accounts are common on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. They have one goal: to spread fear and fake news.” 11. Katherine Ellison, “Social Media Posts and Online Searches Hold Vital Clues about Pandemic Spread”, Scientific  American (30 March 2020), online: <https://