COVID-19; fake news prone and WhatsApp borne
It was only five years ago that my mother, born in the late 60s installed WhatsApp on her smartphone. She primarily used it to call me, her only daughter who was moving to the United States, and used it like any other messaging/calling app. Over the last few years, however, WhatsApp, in India, has transitioned from a social media app to a major source of information. Unlike Facebook and Twitter, information on WhatsApp is primarily circulated by non-experts. It’s hard to discern if having unwavering faith in social media is an outgrowth of advancement in technology or a scenario that has been manipulated to exploit conformational bias in citizens. We’ve always been culturally prone to naivety. This gets transformed to something dangerous when combined with faith and absolute confidence in our unknown sources.
We all know that the line between ignorance and oblivion has always been blurry within most Indian families.
“I’ve been suffering from depression for the past 10 years”. “You didn’t seem depressed when you went out with your friends last week.” “My daughter is educated and has a great job.” Two years later, “How’s your daughter doing?” “She is married, and her husband is the Vice President of so and so and she never has to work in her life.” Indians are often conflicted about their expectations from life. Like most people, their desire to be considered important drives their actions, lifestyles and modes of thinking, even if these things contradict a moral code of righteousness.
We also pride themselves on being scientific. They claim with superiority that Aryabhata invented the concept of zero, that our ancient scriptures rely on science and incorporate lifestyles that scientists spend millions on to improve lives today. While Indian food, lifestyles and knowledge may have been something to look up to in the olden times, what is left of it now, is a hardly a semblance of a smart, intelligent Indus valley civilization with modern plumbing and irrigation ideas that exemplified sustainable farming and healthy living. Our pride could have blossomed to a comfortable society had not for divisive politics. In a diverse country like India, it is so easy for two families living next to each other be cultural extremes. We’re no Bobs and Susans who have stable jobs, two kids, perfect houses, barbeque on weekends, hike in the summers and ski in the winters. We are usually two families living next to each other, speaking to each other in languages that neither understands, with vastly different roots that even vague coherence is a long-lost hope. Here, one family closes their windows and doors on the day that the other family cooks meat and they’re probably families where their kids are competitors and maybe, friends but only if they’re far apart in age or belong to the same sex; because god forbid any attraction between any two individuals, who we’ve also assumed to be automatically straight. Our diversity has made each one of us an essential part of the paraphernalia but is also what can be used to turn us against each other. In a world of fake news, nationalist agendas and communal differences, this diversity is a self-destructive weapon. In times like these, science can equalize humanity using its history, dependence, and most of all, its legitimacy. Currently, the greatest impediment to the mass diffusion of scientific knowledge is its equivalently serious opponent, fake news.
A week after the lockdown in Wuhan, my family WhatsApp group went berserk. “Did you know that consuming highly alkaline foods can neutralize the virus? One needs to consume dandelion root which has a pH of 22.5 in order to fight the coronavirus!” As a biochemistry grad student, I know that it’s impossible to achieve a pH of 22.5 and more so, has no effect on a virus or its “acidity”. This can be a difficult concept to grasp for most people. Even educated people in India who no longer do anything pertaining to chemistry can be confounded by this statement. How that can happen is that messages of these kind are usually cleverly written, even for fake news. Mixing up something irrelevant with a few terms that sound scientific but not complex enough that people may want to look it up is the perfect combination to achieve sensitized deception. Another way to legitimize this is by adding a fake approval stamp from NASA. The assurance that the West believes in the same meaningless information that you are about to place your trust on is validation in its mightiest form. Misinformation regarding COVID-19 can tilt the delicate balance between fake news that fools people and fake news that harms people. The worst danger of all, is however the possibility that this misinformation might spread at levels where the source cannot be traced anymore leading to a situation where everyone is affected but no one can be held responsible.
To truly grasp the levels of comprehension regarding COVID-19 in the middle-class, working, Indian public, I sent a small questionnaire to my family and asked them to pass it around. While it gave me a chance to witness the speed of WhatsApp messaging in real-time, it led to interesting results. Out of the 676 responses I received within 24 hours, most of them of my first heard about the novel coronavirus in December 2019. Many months have passed since and here’s how much we have learnt.
Belief: 85% of the participants believe that Indians have better immunity than foreigners.
Fact: There is no scientific evidence to prove the above hypothesis.
Inference: If a majority of Indians can have faith in arranged marriage, they can have faith in almost anything.
Belief: Drinking hot water can wash the virus down your throat to the stomach where the acids can kill the virus.
Fact: The virus cannot be washed down to your stomach because it uses spikes to lodge on to your throat and infiltrate the upper respiratory pathways.
Inference: Hot water flask industry is going to boom in India. Next, it’ll be Horlicks.
Belief: A small fraction of people answered that the virus can incubate in your body for 21 days before you show symptoms.
Fact: It’s 14 days
Inference: The first lockdown imposed by the government was for the virus to leave our bodies. That is, if the clapping and plate banging hadn’t helped.
Belief: China made this virus and spread it to the world on purpose. This was their idea of World War III without even firing a missile.
Fact: Simulations have always predicted outbreaks from south-east Asian countries. The SARS-CoV-2 has high homology to bat coronaviruses and does not seem to have evolved in lab environments.
Inference: Misinformation spreads faster than COVID-19. Signs and symptoms include picking up your phone and forwarding WhatsApp messages.
Belief: This is the first time a coronavirus has infected humans
Fact: Coronaviruses have been infecting humans for a long time now, starting with minor colds to more severe respiratory diseases like SARS and MERS.
Inference: History repeats itself. Diseases and our lack of preparedness are included in the package.
Belief: Astrological predictions about COVID-19 are true.
Fact: There is a 50% probability that every prediction is true because it can either be true or false but that has little to do with astrology or its legitimacy.
Inference: Astrology is the placebo pill that assures some Indians. It requires no prescription, just like any other generic drug.
Belief: Neem and Turmeric water can keep COVID-19 at bay.
Fact: Using neem and turmeric water to prevent COVID-19 infection only keeps logic at bay and your health too, if that’s the only precaution you’re taking.
Inference: We like to mix things up. If one thing is good for something, it’s probably good for everything. It’s the Indian law of association.
These are some examples of misinformation that has been devoured and consumed with confidence by a small percentage of working, middle-class professionals. We casually pick up our phones, read catchy messages disguised in fake news and fail to think about our contributions to a confused world as we forward it to more and more people. Drinking bleach and consuming the wrong drugs aren’t the only ways to injure yourself unnecessarily during a pandemic. If these notions are present in the minds of the literate population, these will solidify realities in the minds of people who cannot afford to be educated about the same. As a result of which, the poor will be forced to believe anything that comes their way and will resort to hope in a world where there is a dearth of it. We need every citizen in the country to be aware and conscious of the crisis that we are dealing with. Science education among the masses provides them with opportunities to question the public health reforms being proposed by the government. It gives them a voice, a chance and the power to decide if the government has helped them or not. While science education is less important than basic human needs of food and shelter, it can empower people to vote for the right government and build a society that is healthier and more prepared than the previous one. While the curves are flattening in some parts of the world, the crisis is just catching up with other parts. India is continuing to see an exponential rise in COVID-19 positive cases. Though public health measures are being proposed, their effectiveness will be determined by the seriousness with which they are implemented. This is dependent on people’s notions and awareness of the pandemic. Combatting fake news is a separate battle but in the process of gearing up for it, it is crucial to identify elements of news that are not based on scientific evidence and eliminate their circulation among people. Panic and fear are not the solutions to handling a global crisis, but caution is advisable and essential. It is through awareness and communication alone, that we can deploy every citizen to be on guard, to be careful and to take proper steps to stay healthy. By practicing social distancing, with every person you don’t meet, you spread the virus x times slower; by practicing science education, with every person you meet, you’ll spread awareness x times faster. Like an old Sanskrit saying goes, Vasudeva kutumbakam, it means that the whole world is your family; it does not say, the whole world is you family WhatsApp group. Perception is everything.
