Guides: Covid-19 (Coronavirus) Resources and Online Transition at Texas Tech University: Misinformation and the Infodemic

Tracking Misinformation

Although coronavirus poses a health risk that doesn't stop misinformation about the virus. Misinformation has become so serious that the World Health Organization has characterized it as a "infodemic" in February 2020.

We're seeing recommendations like drinking bleach (please don't) and coating your hands in oil (that won't work and everything will end up sticky) are options and they are not.

Please use this page to fact check, learn more, and share with others to help with spreading accurate and timely information about COVID-19.

NewsGuard: Coronavirus Misinformation Tracking Center
"As the Wuhan coronavirus and the disease it causes — also known as COVID-19 — spread across the globe, so does disinformation and misinformation. Follow the spread of this dangerous information with NewsGuard’s new Coronavirus Misinformation Tracking Center."

This list includes sites in the U.S., the U.K., France, Italy, and Germany that have been identified as publishing materially false information about the virus.

Fact Checking Sources

Snopes: The Coronavirus Collection - Misinformation and Memes
"Snopes investigates the memes, rumors, jokes, and misinformation spreading on social media in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak."
WHO: 12 facts to know to avoid coronavirus misinformation contagion
"As the new coronavirus spreads globally, the online battle to keep misinformation about the disease is also stepping up with organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO) updating its information pages on the virus as more about the deisease becomes known."
WHO: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public: Myth busters
Wikipedia: Misinformation related to the 2019–20 coronavirus outbreak
World Health Organization Instagram
WHO, the United Nations Health Agency, has been sharing these blue infographics about coronavirus and will be updating them as misinformation arrises.

The Infodemic

MIT Technical Review: The coronavirus is the first true social-media “infodemic”

Social media has zipped information and misinformation around the world at unprecedented speeds, fueling panic, racism … and hope.