Cyber mythbusters battle Covid19 'infodemic'
BAGHDAD - Browse through Arabic-language social media pages and you could walk away thinking COVID-19 is an American hoax, isn't deadly, and can be swiftly cured with a garlic clove.
The pictures are marked with a red stamp reading"fake post" accompanied by a correction and links to more accurate information."We don't just want to expose lies. We want to spread awareness about the coronavirus, the right way to protect yourself, the wrong remedies that are circulating," Jassem told AFP.
Medics say such false information could make people less likely to wear masks in public, abide by social distancing or wash their hands regularly.Misinformation about COVID-19 has been spreading in various languages since the pandemic's early days, but the proliferation in Arabic is particularly dangerous because of the lack of quality reporting, activists told AFP.
It's no easy task given the Arabic language's diverse dialects, said volunteer translator Issam Fawwaz, based in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli.
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