By: Alfisyah Kumalasari )*
Covid-19 pandemic still hit Indonesia and failed in the midst of this, a hoax appeared in the community. Infodemic about corona makes them sometimes confused between original news and deception. The community must be vigilant and must read first, do not read the news raw.
We have lived in an era of openness and can access the internet at any time through devices. Unfortunately, too much freedom can cause people to fall into infusion, that is, the compilation of the swift flow of information which is sometimes even improved. Every day there is new news about Corona and failure is not all true.
Why is there an infusion? The reason is because access to cyberspace is getting easier and the price of internet quota is also quite affordable. Information about corona jumps from devices, even since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 100 million statuses or tweets about corona. This proves that this co-19 pandemic is of concern to many people.
If in the past information could be seen through print or television, now we can easily see it through online media. Changing information from print to online makes time limited or even no news editing process. Unfortunately everyone can write on the internet. So not all news is really a lie.
Even now infodemic is considered as dangerous as a pandemic. Because repeated compilation of incorrect information will be considered as truth. An example is the issue of corona transmitted through fruit, and fruit traders being affected. This is a loss due to slander from this infidemic.
At first the untrue news appears in the information age and people sometimes believe it because the headline is sometimes horrendous, even though the term is misleading. Why is there a trick that is misleading? Because it can be used by a handful of people who ask for certain benefits and buy in turbid water.
For example, a trick about vitamin C could be a corona drug. People buy capsules and vitamin C tablets until they disappear on the market. If there is, the price will be very expensive. Could be, a hoax about this vitamin exhaled by a person who wants to sell well. Vitamin C is good for immunity but not for corona drugs.
There are also tricks about herbs such as ginger and lemongrass that can ward off covid-19 virus. Their fate is the same, prices have jumped dramatically. Catering owners and housewives are confused because they cannot cook using ginger and lemongrass because there is no stock. This hoax benefits one party but harms the other.
To overcome the infodemic and ward off deception, then don’t easily believe there is news about corona. First check who wrote. If the media name is bona fide and there is a printed version, then it can be trusted. But if the news about covid-19 is written by an online newspaper at random, don’t read it and keep the device away from your updates.
The hoax characteristic that was shared was the news that was spread through the WA group. We do not know who is authorized and there is a fraction ‘spread’ or ‘very important, mandatory reading’. Certainly it’s just a trick. Check the hoax news site first and don’t rush to copy-paste it to another WA group or your social media.
Infodemics and deception in the midst of the co-19 pandemic are very dangerous because the public is news, even though they are fake. Don’t easily trust the news and check the truth. Because it could be fake news, use old photos or edited titles.
)* Active writer in the Press Circle and Cikini Students