Among the troubling buzzwords forced into our pop culture vocabulary by the Covid-19 pandemic, one of most pertinent and perturbing is infodemic. As health experts struggled to assemble clear and trustworthy public health information about the disease, misinformation spread mouth-to-mouth with a speed rivalling the virus itself.
Many of the half-truths and untruths involved capitalized upon the already-thriving online market for conspiracy theories. About three in ten Americans, for example, apparently think the virus was created in a top-secret lab (including four in ten conservative Republicans). Almost half of Canadian respondents believe at least one conspiracy theory about Covid-19: the virus was spread to the West on purpose, it’s a cover story for the putative baleful effects of 5G wireless technology, etc.
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