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Spread of Fake News About Covid: The Ecuadorian Case

Abstract:

The appearance of fake news in Ecuador, during the period of confinement generated by the pandemic related to COVID-19, evidenced the various dimensions of this phenomenon. This paper analyzes the spread of fake news about Covid in the Ecuadorian technological scene, in order to promote an understanding and subsequent debate that contributes to the generation of prevention strategies and even reduction of its impact on the Internet and social networks, for the benefit of communication and democracy. One of the serious problems caused by disinformation is the appearance of rumors, which in the context of a health emergency cause anguish and despair among the population. This is where a social environment is needed in which the State shields the production of fake news and the destruction of disinformation from official communication, through transparent and precise communication, with clear and detailed messages on the form of prevention and attention, that it arrives by truthful technological means. Much better if these are disseminated through official spokespersons from different professional branches: scientific community, authorities with responsibilities in health matters and civil society organizations with an aligned and coherent discursive line, to share certainties with the public and appease the anguish of the situation, and communication technology professionals. In the context of political information and technological strategic communication, it is worrying that social networks are the strategic field to attack the adversary by creating rumors that are spread as fake news. A similar case occurs with the false information that circulates on social networks in relation to the health emergency, and that puts people’s lives at risk. As evidenced, information technology is a weapon on an unprecedented scale. This is precisely because the technological and communicational advances of the information society have facilitated the fabrication and manipulation of content that, when disseminated through social networks, dramatically amplifies the lies produced by the States, by populist politicians and by dishonest corporations, among the population, that lacks criteria to assess these technological contents.