Graphic on fake news websites. In February, COVID-19-related disinformation fell to its lowest level as disinformation related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine exploded, the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) wrote in a brief published on Tuesday. Credit: VOA, via Wikimedia Commons/Public DomainIn February, COVID-19-related disinformation fell to its lowest level as disinformation related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine exploded, the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) wrote in a brief published on Tuesday.
COVID-19 disinformation falls to its lowest level
The EDMO fact-checking network, which is made up of 13 fact-checking partner organizations, including AFP, contributed to Tuesday’s brief. Among the 1,067 articles submitted in February, 322 articles (30.2%) focussed on COVID-19, marking the lowest ever percentage ever recorded by the EDMO’s briefs.
The decrease in disinformation seems to follow the decline in the number of COVID-19 cases across the EU, as well as the easing of restrictions across a number of countries — and the emergence of a new tropic in late February: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine-related disinformation explodes
Out of the 1,067 fact-checking articles published in February by the 13 organizations part of the EDMO fact-checking network, 221 (20.7%) focused on Ukraine-related disinformation, with the vast majority being published after February 24.
“We expect that in March the Ukraine war-related disinformation will be predominant, surpassing the COVID-19-related disinformation,” the EDMO writes. In February, a number of organizations EDMO has partnered with saw a higher percentage of articles dedicated to Ukraine-related disinformation than to COVID-19 disinformation, including Poland’s Demagog and Portugal’s Poligrafo, with both countries have seen some disinformation related to Ukraine in January as well, EDMO notes.
Biggest false stories in the Europe, in February
