Rising above misinformation or fake news in Africa : another strategy to control COVID-19 spread

Bright Opoku AHINKORAH; Edward Kwabena AMEYAW; John Elvis HAGAN; Abdul Aziz SEIDU; Thomas SCHACK

doi:10.3389/fcomm.2020.00045

Rising above misinformation or fake news in Africa : another strategy to control COVID-19 spread

Bright Opoku AHINKORAH, Edward Kwabena AMEYAW, John Elvis HAGAN^*, Abdul Aziz SEIDU, Thomas SCHACK

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications › Review article › Other Review

83 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic is gradually gaining much popularity and amplifying the threat facing humanity about the continuous spread of the virus regardless of one's location. Although some of the influx of these falsehoods may be harmless, others might pose a serious threat by misleading the general population to depend on unjustified and/unsubstantiated claims for protection and show preference for them against scientifically proven guidelines. This paper provides a clear understanding on some COVID-19 misinformation, the inherent implications this poses to public health in Africa and highlights the potential strategies to curb this trend.

Original language	English
Article number	00045
Number of pages	4
Journal	Frontiers in Communication
Volume	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2020.00045
Publication status	Published - 17 Jun 2020
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© Ahinkorah, Ameyaw, Hagan, Seidu and Schack.

Keywords

Africa
COVID-19
fake news
mass media
misinformation

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.3389/fcomm.2020.00045Licence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Rising above misinformation or fake news in Africa : another strategy to control COVID-19 spread",

abstract = "Misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic is gradually gaining much popularity and amplifying the threat facing humanity about the continuous spread of the virus regardless of one's location. Although some of the influx of these falsehoods may be harmless, others might pose a serious threat by misleading the general population to depend on unjustified and/unsubstantiated claims for protection and show preference for them against scientifically proven guidelines. This paper provides a clear understanding on some COVID-19 misinformation, the inherent implications this poses to public health in Africa and highlights the potential strategies to curb this trend.",

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doi = "10.3389/fcomm.2020.00045",

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AU - AMEYAW, Edward Kwabena

AU - HAGAN, John Elvis

AU - SEIDU, Abdul Aziz

AU - SCHACK, Thomas

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © Ahinkorah, Ameyaw, Hagan, Seidu and Schack.

PY - 2020/6/17

Y1 - 2020/6/17

N2 - Misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic is gradually gaining much popularity and amplifying the threat facing humanity about the continuous spread of the virus regardless of one's location. Although some of the influx of these falsehoods may be harmless, others might pose a serious threat by misleading the general population to depend on unjustified and/unsubstantiated claims for protection and show preference for them against scientifically proven guidelines. This paper provides a clear understanding on some COVID-19 misinformation, the inherent implications this poses to public health in Africa and highlights the potential strategies to curb this trend.

AB - Misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic is gradually gaining much popularity and amplifying the threat facing humanity about the continuous spread of the virus regardless of one's location. Although some of the influx of these falsehoods may be harmless, others might pose a serious threat by misleading the general population to depend on unjustified and/unsubstantiated claims for protection and show preference for them against scientifically proven guidelines. This paper provides a clear understanding on some COVID-19 misinformation, the inherent implications this poses to public health in Africa and highlights the potential strategies to curb this trend.

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KW - COVID-19

KW - fake news

KW - mass media

KW - misinformation

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JO - Frontiers in Communication

JF - Frontiers in Communication

M1 - 00045

ER -

Rising above misinformation or fake news in Africa : another strategy to control COVID-19 spread

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

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