26 Specifically, the focus was placed on those hoaxes that might have posed a public health risk 27 or might have had a negative impact on the epidemic's evolution. The objective of this exploratory study was to identify the specific characteristics of hoaxes about COVID-19 disseminated via WhatsApp during the first month of the state of alarm in Spain, which prompted the public to consume pharmacological substances, miracle remedies or alternative therapies or urged them to take specific action or to abstain from doing so. 24 A public opinion study performed on the public's exposure to hoaxes and fake news during the initial stages of the SARS-CoV-2 crisis in Spain indicates that most of these messages (64.3 per cent) were received via social networking sites and instant messaging services, with WhatsApp leading the field (68.8 per cent). Indeed, the traffic of instant messaging services, such as WhatsApp, quintupled in Spain. 6 The lockdown imposed as a preventive measure to keep the number of infections under control during the pandemic encouraged the public to use social media and private messaging services. These networks have thus become a means of disseminating very harmful messages that could pose a serious public health risk or exacerbate the condition of people with early symptoms. 19, 20, 21, 22, 23However, private messaging services, such as WhatsApp and Telegram, are employed to send isolated messages to people who cannot immediately confirm, or obtain confirmation on, whether they are true or not. The disinformation that is spread through social media, such as Facebook or Twitter, is neutralised as soon as someone reports content as false. 6 In this context, since the beginning of the pandemic crisis, the World Health Organisation (WHO) 18 proposed taking specific action to manage this infodemic, such as suggesting to social media companies that they take measures to control the spread of fake news and offer direct links to institutional information sources. According to these authors, countless mishaps caused by the spread of rumours among the population have been confirmed worldwide. One of the characteristics of the dissemination of this false information is the promotion of erroneous practices that could increase the spread of the virus and, ultimately, have a negative impact on people's physical and mental health. According to a study published by Tasnim, Hossain and Mazumder, 6 the pandemic crisis has contributed to increase the quantity of rumours, deceits and disinformation relating to the aetiology, results, prevention and cure of the COVID-19 disease. For their part, Finneman and Thomas 17 argue that deception applies to any situation in which the message initially confuses the public. Above all, they should capture the attention and ideally the imagination of the public, and are basically spread as private hoaxes. For this author, they should be somewhat outrageous, resourceful, dramatic or sensationalist. Boese 16 defines hoaxes as lies that must have something extra. 14, 15 In this work, hoaxes have been chosen as the object of study. 12, 13In turn, disinformation messages can be disseminated in the form of memes, fake news, manipulated photos or videos, propaganda or hoaxes. 12, 13This deliberate way of spreading false information is what has been popularly called ‘fake news’ since 2016, due to the use to which toxic messages of this type were put during the US presidential campaign. When false information believed to be true is forwarded, it is called ‘misinformation’ and when erroneous information is deliberately shared for a specific purpose, then it is referred to as ‘disinformation’. This flow of out-of-context, false, manipulative, conspiratorial or satirical messages, which circulate through different information channels and sources, is generically called disinformation, 7 which, albeit not a recent phenomenon, has been exacerbated by the emergence of social networks. 6, 7 Authors such as Vaezi and Javanmard 7 point out that infodemics are produced by the dissemination of toxic messages at the same speed as epidemics spread. The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic, in addition to generating a huge social and economic impact worldwide, has triggered an informative ‘epidemic’ (infodemic) among the world population, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 unprecedented in contemporary history.
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