Misinformation hampers coronavirus response, experts warn

Misinformation is impacting on efforts to quell the coronavirus pandemic as even "very well educated" people share false cures, hoaxes and conspiracy theories online, experts warned as recorded cases continued to climb Friday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has increased its efforts to tackle myths and rumours since it warned in February of a massive "infodemic", a deluge of information, including false claims that can risk public health.

AFP has debunked more than 140 cases of widely-shared misinformation since the virus emerged in December, including fake hotline numbers, recipes for herbal "cures" and videos of packed supermarkets which were actually filmed years ago.

One message circulating on the popular WhatsApp messaging service recommended taking a dangerously high dose of anti-malaria drug chloroquine to treat COVID-19.

And a Facebook post apparently written by a medical student that advised drinking warm water and lemon to prevent the disease was shared more than 40,000 times around the globe.

"You see how easy it is to have the same hoaxes popping up in Asia, Europe, the USA, in Latin America (on) the same days with hours' difference," said Cristina Tardaguila, associate director of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN).

The network is part of the Poynter Institute journalism school in Florida, which has certified more than 70 fact-checking organisations worldwide.

IFCN-certified fact checkers working with Facebook, which include AFP, can flag misinformation to the public, although the "globalisation of hoaxes" makes it a difficult task.

"We're losing the battle against false cures, like drinking bleach, and the preventive medicines. That one, we're still losing because it's very hard, because people are trying to protect other people," Tardaguila told AFP.

While conspiracies and hoaxes can deliberately create panic around the outbreak -- such as social media posts claiming the virus was created in a Canadian laboratory -- many cases are "not malicious", said Claire Wardle, director of First Draft, a global non-profit body focused on responsible reporting on disinformation.

She told AFP that quarantine measures in various countries are helping to fuel the spread of misinformation, a phenomenon which is "impacting absolutely everybody".

"Many people are at home right now, many people are living alone. Everybody is texting, messaging each other, because they're frightened."