Coronavirus fake news shows importance of mainstream media – leader comment

Forty per cent of people surveyed by Ofcom found it hard to tell truth from fiction about coronavirus.

Lizards don't secretly rule the world and 5G is not linked the coronavirus pandemic

David Icke thinks a number of world leaders are shape-shifting alien lizards who drink human blood so they can look like us. He has also claimed to be the son of God and, most recently, that the new 5G internet network is linked the coronavirus pandemic.

All of this is complete and utter nonsense – to the extent that it feels foolish to point out what should be blindingly obvious to anyone with an ounce of sense – and yet alarming numbers of people appear to be taken in by Icke’s gibberish and other equally deranged pronouncements by conspiracy theorists and self-proclaimed amateur experts the world over.

It has been said that we are living in the ‘Information Age’ but such is the level of lies, deceit and fantasy that we must take care we do no descend into a ‘Disinformation Age’.

If that sounds overly alarmist, consider new research from media regulator Ofcom which found that nearly half of UK adults who use the internet have been exposed to false or misleading information about the coronavirus outbreak, the most serious health threat the world has faced for decades. And 40 per cent of people surveyed said they found it hard to distinguish between what was true or false about the virus.

Currently, internet companies have been taking a rather relaxed attitude to the truth of postings on their websites, based on arguments largely around free speech. However, just because someone says something in no way means you are obligated to repeat it. And yet Icke’s claims about 5G were ‘broadcast’ on the Google-owned Youtube website until a chorus of protest forced it to start deleting the videos. Initially, Youtube had thought it was acceptable just to limit the number of times the videos were recommended in its ‘Up Next’ section. It was literally spoon-feeding this stuff to those most likely to believe it for one reason alone – money.

This is where traditional newspaper industry comes into its own with its commitment to fact-checking and rigorous regulation. The Scotsman is dedicated to telling the truth. It’s in our DNA; this paper’s prospectus, written more than 200 years ago and quoted at the top of this column, states that our “first desire is to be honest, the second is to be useful”.

These remain our watchwords because if we cannot tell fact from fiction, truth from lies, and worse, if we give up even trying to do so, humanity is doomed.