Disinformation, or 'fake news' is not just harmless gossip, it helping to spread the coronavirus. Whether it is social media messages that peddle false cures, dire warnings of lockdowns that prompt panic buying or even propaganda by international actors who should know better, each type of message in its own way undermines society’s ability to mount a coherent response.
In its own way, it is as dangerous as the disease itself, experts believe - an infodemic to accompany the pandemic. Speaking to the Munich Security Conference over a month ago, the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) addressed leading global policy-makers and thinkers on security issues.