Fighting disinformation proves as hard as fighting the pandemic: Lies spread faster than the virus

Montenegro does not have a strategy to fight fake news and conspiracy theories. It is not always easy for citizens to distinguish between disinformation and real news. The Government says that media self-regulation is currently the only solution because there is no relevant European practice.

By Marija Mirjačić

A day before a May session of the Montenegrin parliament at which the MPs discussed amendments to the Law on Protection of the Population from Infectious Diseases, a Facebook user warned that “the new parliamentary majority will resort to a repressive method, just as Aleksandar Vučić allegedly did in Serbia,” adding that the list of mandatory vaccines will be expanded to include vaccination against infectious diseases.

This is just one of everyday examples of the spread of fake news which was published by the fact-checking website Raskrinkavanje.me – a platform run by the Centre for Democratic Transition (CDT). Such pieces of false information have flooded the world ever since the outbreak of the COVID 19 pandemic.

The old saying “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes” has taken on a new meaning. The World Health Organization (WHO) has labelled the spread of false or misleading information that can lead to risky behaviours and damage public health as “infodemic”.

According to the experts we interviewed, Montenegro like most other countries still does not have the right answer or a strategy to combat lies that spread faster than the virus through various channels and make it difficult to curb the epidemic.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, neither former nor current policy makers have run a strategic campaign to educate citizens on how to recognize misleading health information and conspiracy theories.

The vague media campaigns, such as “It depends on you”, are aimed at motivating as many citizens as possible to get a vaccine. Numerous public appearances by health workers talking about the need to comply with Covid measures, emphasizing the importance of vaccination and giving advice on how to preserve mental health have had a limited impact.

Raskrinkavanje.me is currently the only service that points to the proliferation of fake news about the pandemic by analysing media products and social media content. They collaborate with similar websites in the region and sometimes even divide up tasks because of heavy workload.

Speaking to Vijesti, Darvin Murić, editor of Raskrinkavanje.me, says that it’s difficult to assess the government’s performance in the fight against the infodemic, because in fact there is no such performance.

“This isn’t just the case with the current health crisis, but, as we have said on several occasions, the state does not have a clear strategy and has not taken concrete steps in the fight against disinformation. That fight usually comes down to reactions and putting the label ‘fake news’, but without a plan on how to prevent this phenomenon,” Murić pointed out.

That the infodemic is worrying, in addition to the noticeable slow vaccination pace, as in most other countries, is best evidenced  by results from an Ipsos survey, which showed that one in three Montenegrin citizens believe in conspiracy theories about coronavirus. Among them is a significant proportion of people with primary or lower level of education.

Research has shown that conspiracy theories are likely to be prevalent among people who have been exposed to a large amount of inaccurate information about coronavirus, as well as by people who think they were lucky enough to find desired information on this topic.

“These data indicate the importance of media literacy for public health, because it allows people to find information of interest to them, as well as to critically evaluate any piece of information and check it against reliable and expert sources,” said Vladimir Raičević, CEO of Ipsos in Montenegro.

This survey was conducted between 24^th and 26^th March this year, with the support of the British Embassy and UNICEF. The nationally representative sample included 821 respondents aged 18 or over from all across Montenegro.

Infodemic is a chronic public health disease

The Ministry of Health has announced new campaigns in collaboration with Raskrinkavanje.me. Furthermore, the Ministry of Public Administration, Digital Society and the Media says that Montenegro is facing the same problem as many EU countries when it comes to the infodemic, adding that the European Commission is currently of the opinion that this problem is to be tackled by means of self-regulation of media platforms.

According to the Ministry of Health, this government department has continuously and strategically called for compliance with prescribed Covid measures in collaboration with the Institute of Public Health, Clinical Centre of Montenegro and Podgorica Health Centre Podgorica, while explaining to citizens why this is necessary. The infodemic, they say, did not “come into existence” with the appearance of coronavirus, but is a chronic disease that has affected all spheres, including the areas of public and personal health.

“This area is seriously neglected in Montenegro’s healthcare system, which is supported by the fact that almost 90 percent of children born in 2016 have been vaccinated with the MMR vaccine, while the coverage of immunized babies born in 2020 is just over 20 percent. This is just one of the illustrative examples that we cite here,” the Ministry of Health said without answering Vijesti’s question as to what they plan to do regarding such worrying data.

The Ministry of Public Administration, Digital Society and the Media told Vijesti that the creation of a national website aimed at informing citizens about the current situation caused by the pandemic (covidodgovor.me) and the public call for service providers to inform citizens about epidemiological measures and immunization in Montenegro helped them undertake timely activities with the aim of providing accurate and timely information to citizens and preventing the spread of fake news.

“Recognizing the problem of the spread of fake news about the pandemic, especially in respect of the vaccination process, we cooperated with all other institutions in order to provide information in an understandable and accessible way and avoid misinterpretation and false information. Thanks to the coviodgovor.me website, but also to other communication activities in collaboration with other institutions (Ministry of Health, Ministry of Economic Development, Institute of Public Health and Administration for Inspection Affairs), citizens are being informed in a timely and accurate manner about all events in the country relating to the pandemic, the Ministry says.

However, neither the Government’s official website and nor covidodgovor.me feature information on how citizens can recognize the infodemic. Even if there was, analysts specializing in website traffic monitoring say that the coviodgovor.me website has had a low number of visits, which means that its impact is just as low.

Stefan Mandić-Rajčević, MD and a teaching assistant in the Department of Social Medicine and the School of Public Health and Health Care Management at the Faculty of Medicine in Belgrade, who attended the WHO training programme in infodemic management, told Vijesti that this organization had noted at the beginning of the pandemic that an overabundance of information – some accurate and some not – would pose a challenge.

Reliable sources instead of social media

“The training programme in infodemic management was developed as a result of the work of experts from a large number of areas, ranging from epidemiology and medical informatics to the media, communications and the humanities. Infodemic management is a form of risk communication and community engagement in resolving public health crises. As far as the citizens are concerned, a bridge has been made between science and recommendations issued by relevant institutions in each country, real concerns, as well as doubts regarding a decision on how people can protect themselves and their families, Mandić-Rajčević told Vijesti.

The training, he says, was given online for four weeks via teleconference platforms, and involved individual and group work.

“In order to make the preparation for the realistic scenario as efficient as possible, the process involved solving an infodemic problem in an imaginary country that is hit by COVID-19 and is experiencing a shortage of PCR tests. News is pouring in from different corners and fake medicines preventive measures are being offered everywhere. In addition, the imaginary country is inhabited by three peoples who differ in terms of religion, culture, understanding of health, trust in the state and the media. I think this scenario is well-familiar to all of us. When it comes to our region, only one colleague from Slovenia participated in the first training, which was organized last year. Out of 600 candidates who were admitted to the programme from all over the world, 250 successfully completed the training,” said Mandić Rajčević.

The current training programme that is about to end is attended by his colleagues from Serbia, Croatia and Macedonia, one from each country.

The WHO office in Montenegro did not answer Vijesti’s questions about what their recommendations are in respect of the fight against infodemic, how they assess the current fight against it and whether anyone from this country applied for the training programme that was attended by Mandić-Rajčević.

When there are doubts that have not been addressed on time and by sources considered reliable (ministries, public health institutes, state agencies, experts in the field), citizens often search for information on the Internet, he explains.

“Even when they are not searching for information, they find it through messages of unknown origin that spread in various group chats, social media posts and even in the traditional way over coffee with friends. The key word for citizens is “source”, as one reliable source is worth a thousand unreliable ones,” Mandić-Rajčević underlines.

He also recalled the successful reaction to the smallpox epidemic in the former Yugoslavia almost half a century ago, which demonstrated how the state can become flipped upside down in a short time, but also how a solution can be produced thorough the joint work of citizens, health workers and the authorities.

“Serbia has managed to secure a large number of vaccines in a very short time and enable its own, but also the citizens in the region, to get vaccinated. Health authorities in the region have concentrated their efforts on providing personal protective equipment, expanding treatment capacities and procurement of vaccines. However, communication strategies aimed at citizens and health workers, including monitoring, timely response to their concerns and targeted interventions in certain age groups, have been pushed into the background, Mandić-Rajčević says.

The Ministry of Health underscores that they are aware of the malign effects of the infodemic, but say that they also have freedom of speech in mind.

“It is clear that the infodemic is deeply rooted and we will not sit back and do nothing. The Institute of Public Health and CDT will try to debunk key myths through the “Raskrinkavanje” project, both with the help of traditional media and social networks, which are widely used by anti-vaxxers. We aim to explain, for example, that COVID-19 vaccines do not cause infertility, nor do our genes change, nor are people being implanted with a microchip,” the Ministry said.

Truth dissemination fund

Murić says that the CDT has initiated and is working on the establishment of a fund for fighting disinformation, which would help the Montenegrin media become less susceptible to untruths.

“The idea is to use the fund, which would be established by the government, to support media projects aimed at verifying the accuracy of facts within editorial offices, including provision of funding for journalists, staff training, introduction of new tools and technologies, etc. In addition, it is necessary to comply with journalistic standards in Montenegro, which are often taken lightly,” Murić says.

He adds that his organization has been working more than ever since the pandemic started and that, like other fact-checking websites, they cannot manage to crack down on all disinformation that spreads on social media.

“We deal with all manipulations relating to COVID-19, including untruths about its origin and how it spreads, as well as with information relating to masks and especially vaccines, which have become the main target of ever-increasing anti-vaxx movements following their approval for emergency use. We also deal with stuff that may seem and sound absurd to someone, such as claims that we will be implanted with microchips,” Murić explains.

Currently, the most popular topic is that magnets may attach to the injection site of the COVID-19 vaccine.

“Although it has been proven that this has nothing to do with the vaccine, videos of people sticking magnets to their arms are being shared via social media on a massive scale. One of the most dangerous phenomena is linking any death and health problem to vaccination without any proof or justification. If a vaccinated person dies, loads of people go on to convince everyone on social media that the person was killed by the vaccine, as if no one who has received a COVID-19 vaccine was expected to die,” Muric emphasizes.

This website has also launched a quiz where you can check how well you can recognize fake news about the current pandemic. The quiz is available at https://www.kviz.raskrinkavanje.me/.

Tijana Cvjetićanin, editor of the Bosnian fact-checking website Raskrinkavanje.ba, also believes that in the entire region there is no appropriate response from the authorities to the infodemic.

She points out that disinformation also started from institutions, citing as an example from a press conference in Serbia, where one of the doctors spoke about “the most ridiculous virus in history”, with the president standing behind him and laughing.

“This was exactly the right ground for conspiracy theorists,” Cvjetičanin notes.

Regional fact-checking websites, she says, have fought together to address the infodemic and were taken aback by the speed with which it was spreading.

“While there used to be posts that had up to 500 shares, with the infodemic we have seen a spread which is up to 10 times higher. There were some video posts with running times of up to an hour, with numerous untruths being told, so we often shared tasks among ourselves,” says Cvjetićanin.

Online comments as a playground for disinformation

Olja Nikolić, director of the Media Institute, says that the pandemic has been a big test for the media in Montenegro, adding that it has been a challenge to provide credible information and not just be a megaphone for those that the authorities mark as credible. “Many governments, including the Montenegrin, have decided to restrict their freedoms, so they communicated key information at press conferences, without the presence of journalists and unpleasant questions,” Nikolić points out.

The health crisis, she explains, has revealed the importance of media literacy and continuous education of citizens so that they could become as resilient as possible to disinformation, lies and propaganda.

“Media literacy must not and cannot be an alibi for the passivity of the state, regulators and big media outlets. During the pandemic, the Media Institute continuously worked on media literacy of high school students, teachers, students and non-governmental organizations through workshops, webinars, analyses and articles by experts of various profiles, but also through projects that support media professionalization,” Nikolić said.

She assesses that the mainstream media in Montenegro have passed the test, adding that they were a source of verified information and a barrier to the spread of disinformation and conspiracy theories.

“The first weeks of the pandemic have shown that the mainstream media in Montenegro, even with limited resources, have the potential to provide credible information. For example, the decision of some websites to completely remove comments, or to ban them below certain content, is part of good self-regulatory practices,” Nikolić points out.

The key sources of untruths, as shown by one of the studies conducted by the Media Institute, were social media and tabloids from Serbia that are popular among Montenegrin citizens, but also messaging apps such as Viber and WhatsApp, as well as reader comments on news websites.

The Ministry of Public Administration, Digital Society and Media says that the issue of fake news has not been the subject of media regulation so far, as there are no generally accepted mechanisms or clear recommendations that may serve as guidance to states without threatening freedom of expression.

“Montenegro is facing the same challenges in the field of infodemic as all EU member states, and that is finding a balance between what is happening on news websites and social media where fake news and freedom of speech are mostly disseminated. The European Commission (EC) has recognized fake news and the spread of a large volume of disinformation through new communication channels as one of the main challenges for democracy nowadays. At this moment, the EC is of the opinion that the key to fighting this problem lies in the self-regulation of media platforms, or more precisely, in the proactivity of platforms to limit the spread of fake news,” the Ministry said.

The Ministry stresses there is currently no European legislation that would be instructive for the legal regulation of new communication channels, whereas the national media legislation does not directly prohibit the dissemination of fake news and does not provide for penal sanctions in respect of this type of offence.

They also point out that the promotion of digital and media literacy and support for quality journalism is important for the fight against the spread of fake news, which is also the standard of the Council of Europe. To that end, they assert that the reformed media legislation and the forthcoming media strategy will lay the foundations for achieving that goal.

Whoever believes – will be late

Stefan Mandić-Rajčević explains that there is an important difference between disinformation and misinformation, which both have been present in the current crisis.

“Disinformation implies a certain intention to harm, while misinformation is the spread of false information without intent to mislead. When an emergency situation occurs, such as a public health crisis caused by a pandemic, solving problems and protecting individuals depends on complying with rules. At the level of population, confidence in the health authorities and trust in alternative measures proposed by unverified sources leads to delays in solving the problem and a prolonged pandemic, including more infections, overwhelmed hospitals and hindered access to health care for others,” says Mandić-Rajčević.

Individually, failure to comply with rules, he explains, leads to infections, spread in the family and the environment, and ultimately to deaths.

“It is necessary to point out that people of lower socio-economic status are usually at a loss. They are less likely to pay attention to their symptoms, call a doctor and get the appropriate diagnosis and treatment. As a result, they are likely to have more serious health consequences and perhaps life consequences as well,” Mandić-Rajčević adds.

Vaccine hesitancy leads to ventilator

Milko Joksimović, an epidemiologist of the Institute of Public Health, told Vijesti that the infodemic was no less dangerous than the pandemic, adding that Montenegrin doctors share the same concerns as all colleagues around the world. These include citizens who are overwhelmed with disinformation and conspiracy theories articulated through numerous statements, such as: “vaccines have not been sufficiently tested”, “an acquaintance of mine received the vaccine, after which they got sick – perhaps they wouldn’t have if they had not been vaccinated”, “the virus was invented so that they could sell us vaccines now” “they implanted us with microchips and who knows what else”, ”I don't want to stay infertile” and many more.

“None of this is true. Vaccination helps protect our health and the vaccine prevents hospitalization. By avoiding vaccination against coronavirus, we are getting closer to the ventilator in case of illness,” Joksimović emphasized.

He said that citizens should be guided by the principle “I may be able to read anything and get information anywhere, but when I need to be treated, I will call and/or go directly to a doctor.”