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

• Published in: Media and communication (Lisboa) Vol. 8; no. 2; pp. 323 - 328
• Main Authors: Nguyen, An, Catalan-Matamoros, Daniel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lisbon Cogitatio Press 01.01.2020; Cogitatio
• Subjects: anti-5g; anti-vaccination; Climate change; Conspiracy theories; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Denialism; Digital media; Disinformation; False information; healh controversies; Health aspects; Immunization; infodemic; Journalists; Lay people; Medical personnel; Misinformation; News; Policy making; Public participation; Science; science controversies; Scientists; Social networks; Vaccination; Spain
• ISSN: 2183-2439; 2183-2439
• DOI: 10.17645/mac.v8i2.3352

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.