Digital Mis/Disinformation and Public Engagement with Health and Science Controversies: Fresh Perspectives from Covid-19

An Nguyen and Daniel Catalan-Matamoros
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An Nguyen: Department of Communication and Journalism, Bournemouth University, UK
Daniel Catalan-Matamoros: Department of Communication Studies, University Carlos III of Madrid, Spain

Media and Communication, 2020, vol. 8, issue 2, 323-328

Abstract: Digital media, while opening a vast array of avenues for lay people to effectively engage with news, information and debates about important science and health issues, have become a fertile land for various stakeholders to spread misinformation and disinformation, stimulate uncivil discussions and engender ill-informed, dangerous public decisions. Recent developments of the Covid-19 infodemic might just be the tipping point of a process that has been long simmering in controversial areas of health and science (e.g., climate-change denial, anti-vaccination, anti-5G, Flat Earth doctrines). We bring together a wide range of fresh data and perspectives from four continents to help media scholars, journalists, science communicators, scientists, health professionals and policy-makers to better undersand these developments and what can be done to mitigate their impacts on public engagement with health and science controversies.

Keywords: anti-5G; anti-vaccination; Covid-19; conspiracy theories; disinformation; healh controversies; infodemic; misinformation; science controversies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:meanco:v8:y:2020:i:2:p:323-328

DOI: 10.17645/mac.v8i2.3352

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