ABSTRACT
The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020 has engendered what the World Health Organization terms ‘an infodemic of misinformation and disinformation’. Social media and digital technologies have been levied on a mass scale to inform, connect and protect populations while at the same time permitting the dissemination and development of synthetically amplified, manipulated content that jeopardizes public health and societal stability. This chapter examines disinformation in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic, noting a critical shift from highly organized, bot-driven campaigns now far exceeded by vast amounts of decentralized, manipulated content gaining organic traction across increasingly diverse communities and subject areas. In the United States, what emerges from this disinformation ecosystem are highly politicized narratives that seek to exploit extant populist and conspiratorial themes around government overreach and hyper-partisan demographic cleavages. Online hoaxes have translated into offline harm, ranging from the delegitimization of medical and governmental expertise to the growing influence of antagonistic, identity-based movements such as QAnon and far-right white supremacist groups. Although the weaponization of disinformation for political purposes is not a new phenomenon, the failures of online platforms and regulatory systems to address its increasing application during a global health crisis poses significant long-term challenges to public welfare.
