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A likely story: How to tell the difference between fake news and science

‘The good thing about science is that it’s true whether or not you believe in it’ – Mick O’Hare tries to sift through the urban myths flooding the digital plane

Wednesday 08 April 2020 17:11 BST
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Fact or fiction: is the story you are reading on social media (or indeed anywhere) verifiable?
Fact or fiction: is the story you are reading on social media (or indeed anywhere) verifiable?

Ibuprofen. Should you avoid it? A debunked rumour running amok on social media announced that healthy young people who took it while they had symptoms of Covid-19 were all dead within hours. But where did the story come from? In any case how could ibuprofen exacerbate Covid-19? And what about holding your breath or drinking cow urine?

The urban myth, of course, has a long history. In the old days it was the bloke down the pub who scared the hell out of you with the story of his mate’s mate who knew boa constrictors dwelled in the sewers. Latterly it was office colleagues at the water cooler telling you aluminium saucepans gave you Alzheimer’s. You weren’t sure, even back then, but now it’s all over Twitter, and everybody can hear it. Getting on for two-thirds of the world’s population now access news online. In this age of total planetary interconnection how do you sift what’s real from what isn’t?

It is science that will inform us in the weeks and months to come as Covid-19 runs its course. But with so much information out there, and with the ability for it to be passed to the other side of the planet in seconds, who or what can you trust? It’s not easy. Not everybody has a science background (and even if they do, we all know how much experts are distrusted by even government ministers).

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