Even before the world had fully learned to pronounce coronavirus, another quiet epidemic had already begun. The World Health Organization gave it a name: infodemic. It is not caused by a pathogen, but it spreads just as quickly and just as dangerously. An infodemic is an overwhelming flood of information, with misleading rumors, fabricated stories, manipulated images, and conspiracy theories mixed in with genuine facts. Like the virus, it is highly contagious and grows exponentially, crossing borders effortlessly through social media, messaging apps, and even word of mouth. It complicates every aspect of the pandemic response, because when people believe false information they may stop wearing masks, refuse to social distance, or put their faith in dangerous unproven cures. We have all felt that confusion, scrolling through headlines that contradict one another, unsure who or what to believe. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described what that means in human terms: “We’re not just battling the virus; we’re battling the trolls and conspiracy theorists that push misinformation and undermine the outbreak response.” That sort of language may sound dramatic, but the harm is real. At the beginning of the pandemic, rumors about food shortages sent panicked shoppers to stockpile supplies, creating actual shortages where there had been none. In the United States, a man died after drinking a fish tank cleaning product that contained chloroquine, because he had heard reports that chloroquine-based drugs might be a treatment for COVID-19. In Iran, hundreds of people lost their lives after consuming methanol alcohol that social media messages falsely promised would cure the disease. These are not isolated mistakes; they are the direct consequences of an information environment gone terribly wrong. Even seemingly harmless myths can become lethal in a global emergency, because they distract people from proven safety measures and chip away at trust in science. That is why WHO has had to learn to treat misinformation as seriously as the virus itself, and why the fight against the infodemic has become a central part of the pandemic response.
Vaccination is one of the areas where misinformation has done the most damage. As scientists race to develop a safe and effective vaccine, a parallel campaign against immunization is spreading through social media. In Germany, health experts worry that the country’s active anti-vaccination movement will keep people from getting the shot once it is ready. A study of 100 million Facebook users discovered that pro-vaccination groups actually outnumbered anti-vaccination groups, 6.9 million to 4.2 million. But that is not the whole picture. There is a much larger, undecided group of 74.1 million people, and the anti-vaccine side is better connected to them. They may be fewer in number, but they are embedded in networks that allow their messages to move quickly through the undecided mass. These “swing vaxxers” are the people who need to hear clear, compassionate, science-based messaging before they make up their minds. One of the most glaring examples of vaccine misinformation was the “Plandemic” video, a conspiracy film that falsely claimed Dr. Anthony Fauci manufactured the virus and sent it to China, and that wearing masks causes self-infection. More than 8 million people watched the video before it was finally removed. A recent study of English-language misinformation found that the largest category of false posts deliberately challenged and attacked public officials, governments, and international institutions like the UN and WHO. The consequences are profound: when people lose trust in the organizations leading the pandemic response, they also lose the ability to make informed decisions. WHO has responded by publishing evidence-based guidance and working with the wider UN community through the Verified initiative, which encourages people to “Pause. Take care before you share.” At the same time, WHO has partnered with more than 50 digital platforms, including TikTok, Google, Viber, WhatsApp, and YouTube, to make sure official health information appears first when people search for COVID-19 topics. Even Tinder, the dating app, now carries WHO reminders, because social distancing is still appropriate on a date. The strategy is to meet people where they are, with truthful information that is as easy to find as the falsehoods, and just as memorable.
Debunking misinformation after it has spread is a little like shutting the barn door after the horse has bolted. Tim Nguyen, whose team at WHO leads the Information Network for Epidemics, known as EPI-WIN, put it plainly: “Countering fake news or rumours is actually only responding or mitigating when it’s too late.” So WHO has changed its approach, adopting what it calls social listening. Since the start of the pandemic, WHO has worked with an analytics company to monitor conversations on social media. Every week, the system reviews about 1.6 million pieces of information. Using machine learning and a new public health taxonomy, the data are sorted into four broad categories: the cause of the disease, the illness itself, interventions, and treatments. This helps WHO see which topics are gaining attention and respond with useful, accurate information before falsehoods take root. People have been asking questions like “How does a pandemic end?” and “How do we know when we have a second wave?” and WHO can answer them quickly. But social listening goes beyond topics. The technology analyzes emotions as well, looking for anxiety, sadness, denial, acceptance, and other feelings hidden in online posts. This allows WHO to craft messages that speak to people’s fears rather than ignore them. Nguyen explained that after two and a half months of this kind of analysis, certain themes kept coming back again and again. That is a sign that people need to hear the same information differently, or simply need to hear it again. Public health communication is not a one-time broadcast; it is an ongoing conversation, and WHO is learning to listen carefully before it speaks. This is a significant leap for a global institution, but it is exactly the kind of innovation needed in an infodemic. Instead of waiting for falsehoods to build enough momentum to cause harm, WHO is trying to get ahead of them, reading the public mood and responding with the same speed and adaptability as the virus itself.
Social media is not the only place where rumors spread, and WHO knows that a digital divide can become a protection gap. In many parts of the world, radio is still the most trusted and popular source of information. In Uganda, for example, more than half of all households rely on radio for news. Thousands of Ugandans call into local programs every day to talk about everything from daily life to health care. The UN Global Pulse team in Kampala has developed an artificial intelligence tool that uses automated speech recognition to translate radio broadcasts from local dialects into English text. This allows health officials to listen to what communities are saying and identify misinformation as it appears. The team has found people promoting witchcraft and herbs as COVID-19 cures, as well as rumors about a vaccine being manufactured in Uganda. This kind of data is incredibly valuable for WHO, because it reveals not only what false information is out there, but also the fears and hopes behind it. WHO is now working to expand this project to two more countries in sub-Saharan Africa and two in Southeast Asia. The aim is to get enough good information into the world that people become immunized against the bad kind. As Nguyen explained, “You need to have a certain degree of good information out there to reach populations so that they are inoculated and not susceptible to fake news or disinformation. We believe we need to vaccinate 30% of the population with ‘good information’ in order to have a certain degree of ‘herd’ immunity against misinformation.” It is a powerful metaphor, and it captures the urgency of the moment. The only way to stop a bad idea is to make sure it is met with a better one, especially in places where formal institutions may seem distant. Local communities are the key to this effort, because they know the language, the culture, and the concerns of their neighbors. When they are equipped with accurate knowledge, they become powerful amplifiers of truth.
Misinformation often begins at the kitchen table, in a family group chat, or in a conversation with a neighbor. It does not always come from a stranger with bad intentions; sometimes it comes from someone we love who is trying to help. That is why WHO has created a page of “mythbusters,” offering simple facts about common misconceptions: shoes are very unlikely to spread the virus; hot baths do not kill it and can cause burns; hand dryers are useless against it. The page also encourages people to fact-check with their loved ones when necessary, because correcting a rumor is a lot easier when it comes from someone you trust. But the more profound change in WHO’s strategy is its willingness to work with communities directly. Nguyen said that in a crisis of this magnitude, a whole-of-society approach is essential. That means co-developing guidance with young people, journalists, faith-based organizations, and other groups who understand the people they serve far better than any global institution can. For example, the hand-washing recommendation is universally important, but in places where water and soap are scarce, it is not enough to say “wash your hands.” Community leaders can help translate that guidance into something practical and achievable, including in crowded settlements where keeping distance seems almost impossible. Faith leaders have worked with WHO to revise worship practices during the pandemic, replacing hugs and handshakes with eye contact and a bow. Worshippers are encouraged to complete ritual ablutions at home instead of at the place of worship. There is even guidance on how to bury loved ones with dignity while respecting COVID-19 restrictions. These are not empty details. They are the difference between public health advice that seems abstract and advice that feels respectful and possible. As Nguyen said, “It’s important to work with these amplification groups that understand the people they care for much better than we do.” The truth spreads through relationships, and those relationships are the strongest resource in the fight against the infodemic.
To connect all these efforts, a new UN alliance has been created. It brings together WHO, UNESCO, the International Telecommunication Union, and UN Global Pulse, and has received just over $4.5 million from the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. The money will support community amplifiers, expand social listening, and establish a centralized fact-checking and misinformation center to help countries respond to the infodemic. On 29 June, WHO also organized the world’s first infodemiology conference, where scientists from physics, mathematics, epidemiology, and social science sat down together. They shared different ways of thinking and learned from each other. As Nguyen said, “One perspective can help fertilize the other.” This is a new frontier in public health, and it demands creativity, humility, and a willingness to change old habits. The pandemic has shown that information is like medicine: it can heal or harm depending on how it is used. While the world waits for a vaccine and a cure for COVID-19, WHO is already working on another kind of immunization, one that protects the mind from lies. Under the leadership of Dr. Tedros, the organization is becoming more open to innovation and more willing to rethink the way it works. The infodemic cannot be defeated overnight, but neither can it survive forever. Every time someone decides to pause before sharing a rumor, every time a community leader speaks a fact with compassion, every time a scientist answers a fear with patience, the infodemic loses some of its power. The virus is still spreading, but so is the movement to protect one another through knowledge, empathy, and action. In the end, the fight against misinformation is not just a battle against lies. It is a battle for trust, for community, and for the best of what it means to be human.