Ryerson University has launched a new online platform to combat misinformation about COVID-19 and to provide timely information about the virus.
The portal is being funded by the Government of Canada through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Researchers from the university have launched a ‘Misinformation Watch’ dashboard to show debunked COVID-19 claims from a network of fact-checkers from around the world. It outlines the sources of the misinformation and which websites have the highest record of debunked information.
The dashboard is quite easy to use and lets users narrow their search if they are looking for something specific. For instance, you can look for all of the debunked claims made by U.S. President Donald Trump.
It also presents the various types of misinformation that are currently circulating around the web. For instance, at the time of writing, the dashboard notes that there are currently a number of fake claims that China has celebrated the elimination of the virus.
The World Health Organization has said that there is an enormous amount of misinformation regarding the pandemic, and is calling this phenomenon an “infodemic.”
Resources like these are quite helpful as misinformation about COVID-19 is rampant on social media and chat platforms.
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