“In recent weeks, the hurricane of disinformation and fake news has hit many states and this is creating considerable damage not only from a health point of view, but also from an economic point of view because the delays in vaccination risk curbing also the economic recovery. We need constant work of good information by the press and an assumption of responsibility by those who manage the online platforms. In fact, among the main channels for spreading fake news there are social networks and fast messaging, if we consider one figure among many, namely that 22,400 fake tweets on the pandemic emergency have been removed in a year “. This is what was explained by the president of the Observatory on fake news of Confassocissioni, Francesco PIRA.
“The spread of disinformation has undermined the vaccination campaign from its foundations – continued Pira – since it not only undermined the usefulness of the vaccine, favoring a climate of fear and uncertainty among the population, but it damaged the reputation of those who invested resources in research and for months he worked hard to find an antidote to the virus. It is therefore essential to intervene immediately and find a counter flow of communication to help the vaccination campaign. How to do? We would need a task force of communicators capable of guaranteeing the best information and adequate social communication campaigns in the interest of both citizens and institutions and businesses ».
“A recent research by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine – continued the president of the Observatory, Francesco Pira – has reached an alarming conclusion: misinformation could cause a significant drop in the number of people willing to undergo vaccination against Covid -19. This survey was conducted on over eight thousand British and US citizens to assess the impact of disinformation on the population’s attitude towards the vaccine. According to the results, before the exposure to the news, 54.1% of the British and 42.5% of the Americans had expressed their willingness to receive the vaccination, while during the second interview, following receipt of incorrect or misleading information , those in favor fell by 6.2% and 6.4%. Furthermore, Reputation Science has recently analyzed over 215 thousand contents to study the perception of Italians regarding vaccines. The analysis shows that the only vaccine to have a negative reputational impact is that of AstraZeneca, which between 9 February and 19 March 2021 has accumulated a vertical collapse in positive comments. The most surprising data, however, is another, namely that the vaccines that collect positive comments and interactions are those that are not currently distributed in Italy ».
“What was hypothesized several months on the negative effects that fake news would have produced even in such a particular period as the one we are experiencing due to the pandemic – concluded the president of Confassociations, Angelo Deiana – not only occurred but was amplified. We are certainly not surprised by this because we are aware that we live in the age of viralized and super-fast information, that as long as it is positive it is strategically functional, but when it is negative it is strategically inhibiting. Hence the consideration, as President Pira pointed out, of a task force of communicators who stop disinformation upstream by helping citizens to see where the truth is actually located. For our part, thanks to the National Observatory on Fake News but also thanks to the strength of our network made up of 700 organizations, the commitment to limit, if not stop the rampant disinformation today and in the near future so that, I hope, ours example from a drop you become an ocean ».