{"id":6840,"date":"2020-11-16T08:00:22","date_gmt":"2020-11-16T07:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/?p=6840"},"modified":"2020-11-16T08:00:26","modified_gmt":"2020-11-16T07:00:26","slug":"cure-myths-and-false-ratings-lead-covid-19-fact-checks-in-nigeria-with-governments-as-most-targeted-entities-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/cure-myths-and-false-ratings-lead-covid-19-fact-checks-in-nigeria-with-governments-as-most-targeted-entities-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Cure Myths and False Ratings Lead COVID-19 Fact-Checks in Nigeria, With Governments as Most Targeted Entities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Raheemat Adeniran<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The advent of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, brought with it an unprecedented era of information disorder. From conspiracy theories regarding the origin of the coronavirus to several unfounded and unverified myths regarding treatment options and preventive practices, the world witnessed an enormous flood of misinformation, making it impossible for many to understand what is real and what is not.<\/a> The information disorder is being spread by people across various demographics from world leaders<\/a>, to religious leaders<\/a>, traditional leaders<\/a>, key government functionaries<\/a>, and  private citizens<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Information disorder around the pandemic is well-established, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) describing the situation as an infodemic<\/a>, \u201can over-abundance of information \u2013 some accurate and some not \u2013 that makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it.\u201d Over 100 fact-checkers around the globe under the #CoronaVirusFacts Alliance<\/a> have been at the forefront of countering this misinformation, often creating a reference link for all covid-19 related fact-checks on their websites. As at 30th<\/sup> September, 2020, they have collectively published over 7,000 fact-checks in more than 70 countries in over 40 different languages<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several social media platforms rose to the challenge<\/a>, devising various means to track and dispel misinformation around the pandemic. Facebook<\/a>, for instance, has a partnership with several fact-checking organisations to combat the spread of the pandemic. This is in addition to its policy of keeping its subscribers updated on fact-checks on information they have previously shared.  Oftentimes, several posts are taken down and blocked from spreading further. Global and local health agencies such as the WHO and the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) are exploring online and other social media platforms to provide \u201cevidenced-based information<\/a>\u201d to the general public. They are also collaborating with fact-checkers<\/a> to debunk false claims and curb the spread of misinformation around the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this analysis, we examine fact-checks on two leading fact-checking organisations in Nigeria, Dubawa <\/em>and Africa Check<\/em>. The NCDC is in partnership with the two organisations to continuously track and promptly debunk \u201ccoronavirus-related misinformation, disinformation and mal-information to limit the spread \u201cof false information around coronavirus in Nigeria\u201d<\/a>.  The essence was to examine the nature of COVID-19 misinformation popularly spread among Nigerians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Method<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We employed a content analysis research method to conduct the study, using a pre-established coding guide to gather required data. We explored the Dubawa and Africa Check websites for coronavirus-related fact-checks, with both having dedicated sections for coronavirus fact-checks on their respective pages.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the coronavirus page<\/a> on Dubawa<\/em>, we extracted all 99 stories published on its page. Of these, 3 articles unrelated to the pandemic were eliminated from the study. General covid-19 misinformation media literacy articles and Dubawa\u2019s bi-monthly newsletters were delisted to limit our analysis to core fact-checks. We also eliminated stories making reference to other African countries to limit the analysis only to fact-checks with specific reference to Nigeria and general COVID-19 misinformation which may likely trend locally. In all, we analysed 64 core covid-19-related fact-checks on Dubawa<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Africa Check<\/em> also has a dedicated coronavirus page<\/a>. It <\/em>grouped its fact-checks into six categories with the number of fact-checks in each group indicated in a bracket. The six categories are: Cures and prevention<\/a> (49), Hoaxes, half-truths and scams<\/a> (88), Manipulated or out of context videos, images and articles<\/a> (76), Conspiracy theories, origins and predictions<\/a> (10), The odd and the bizarre<\/a> (10), Things that are actually true (but you thought they weren\u2019t)<\/a> (35). \u00a0 The page also included two other links \u2013 Audio and podcasts<\/a> (31), On Air: Webinars & media appearances by our staff<\/a> (23) \u2013 for other related contents. A total of 268 (49 + 88 + 76 + 10 +10 + 35 = 268) fact-checks are available across the 6 categories. We examined all 268 fact-checks and eliminated stories focusing on other Africa countries. All stories making reference to virality of contents, or mentioning officials in specific African countries than Nigeria were delisted and excluded from analysis. Fact-Checks on Madagascar were however included in the study owing to the popularity of its highly promoted covid herbal mixture<\/a>. In all, 139 fact-checks were analysed on Africa Check<\/em> for this analysis…Read more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fact checks of the week<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n