People’s Perspectives on Covid 19, Fake News and the Vaccination Drive in South Africa

Abstract

This Chapter seeks to look at people’s perspectives on Covid 19, Fake news and the vaccination drive in South Africa. The Chapter looks at the advent of Covid 19 and the various government initiatives to combat the spread in South Africa. The Chapter will also seek to look at fake news and its impact on the populace as citizens try to make informed choices towards vaccinating against Covid 19 infections. The chapter will thus look at the information warfare and its attempt to influence or derail public action. Comments from study participants will be looked at as conclusions and recommendations are drawn.

1. Introduction

With the advent of the Coronavirus disease pandemic in 2019, which was later referred to as COVID-19, great fear of the unknown gripped the whole world as the World Health Organisation (WHO) broke the news globally. It was therefore important for people and nations around the world to get the needed information on what the disease is all about and how to stay protected from it considering its potent deadly nature. However, it was quickly established that getting credible information was challenge world over. What aggravated the global fear was the fact that the virus is new, spreading at a fast rate from one country to another and also killing people in the process. To make matter worse, scientists and doctors were also having a difficult time to understand the nature of the virus and its ability to spread from person to another and from one country to another [1, 2, 3, 4]. Within a short period of its existence, the impact of Covid-19 was felt globally as the disease was able to spread rapidly across the world, which brought about great fear and a sudden period of uncertainties among people and governments of the world. Even as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and health professionals globally try to understand the nature of this novel virus and how to stop its spread, people globally started to give various meanings and interpretation to the nature and spread of this virus. Considering the effect that this could have on the world, WHO decided to declare a “massive infodemic” on February 2, 2020 [5, 6].

On February 2nd, the World Health Organisation declared a “massive infodemic”, noting that there is an over-abundance of reported information on COVID-19, which are harmful to the people that come in contact with these kind of information. The reason for the declaration of “massive infodemic” is that the over abundant amount of information that exist are both accurate and false about COVID-19 [6]. This in some ways also make it hard for people around the world rely on or trust the available sources of information on the growing pandemic and the danger that it poses to humanity. The world was then faced with challenges on how to get the needed and right information on how to avoid contacting the deadly virus and at the same time prevent its spread. Apart from the efforts of WHO, it must be noted that the governments of countries around the world also moved with speed to deal with issues around infodemic, educate their citizens on the pandemic and thus stop the spread of COVID-19 [7]. In addition, as COVID-19 infections continue to increase around the world, many countries and governments responded with the famous ‘lockdowns’ by shutting down places like workplaces, schools and international borders and airports in order to contain the spread of the virus.

For example, in South Africa, the government through the Minister of Health continuously caution and educate the citizens on the dangers of spreading fake and misleading information about the virus. It must be noted that the South African President, Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa was also very active in the fight against COVID-19 as he regularly communicates with the citizens through his famous televised national addressed tagged as “Family Meeting” [8]. The aim of the President’s “Family Meeting” was to update the citizens on the global, national and regional state of the pandemic, make them to be aware of government efforts to curb the spread of the pandemic and also sensitise the citizens on the need to avoid the spread of fake and misleading news about COVID-19 [9]. This was very important to avoid hindrances to government efforts and the works of health workers towards containing the spread of the virus. This chapter therefore seeks to look at people’s perspectives on COVID-19, the effects of fake news during the pandemic and the various efforts of the South African government towards curbing the spread of COVID-19. The Chapter begins by looking at the advent and global spread of COVID-19, the Spread of COVID-19 in South Africa, fake news and people’s perspectives on COVID-19, dealing with the myths around COVID-19 vaccines, COVID-19 Misinformation, Vaccine Hesitancy and Anti-Vaccine, the theoretical framework, methodology, data analysis, discussion and conclusion.

2. The advent and global spread of COVID-19

COVID-19 or “Novel Coronavirus” was first identified or emerged in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. As noted by the World Health Organisation (WHO), there were reported cases of pneumonia of unknown cause in Wuhan City, China [6]. The WHO added that after careful observations by the Chinese authorities, a novel coronavirus was subsequently identified as the cause on 7 January 2020 and the virus was temporarily named “2019-nCoV” [6, 10]. As further noted by the WHO [11], coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases. WHO added that a novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans and the new virus was subsequently named the “COVID-19 virus” [6, 12]. In view of the potential deadly nature of this COVID-19 virus, on 30 January 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO), through its Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). At that time and according to WHO, there were 98 cases and no deaths in 18 countries outside China [6].

The COVID-19 virus appears to be very dangerous and with the capability to continue to spread across countries of the world at an alarming rate and as at 11 March 2020, there were increased reports of rapid increase in the number of cases outside China. This led the WHO Director-General to state that the outbreak could be declared as a pandemic with more than 118,000 cases reported in 114 countries, and 4291 deaths recorded as well. Statistics also revealed that by mid-March 2020, the European Region of the World Health Organisation (WHO) had become the epicentre of the epidemic, with over 40% of globally confirmed cases reported [11]. The virus quickly spread to 213 countries, areas or territories around the globe, and nearly 144,683 deaths were recorded worldwide as at 18 April 2020. Statistics also revealed that as of 28 April 2020, 63% of global mortality from the virus was from the European Region. It must however be noted that since the first cases of COVID-19 were reported, WHO has relentlessly worked hard to support countries and governments to prepare and respond to the pandemic through its transparent knowledge-sharing and tailored support on the ground [6].

Looking at the confirmed cases and statistics and how the number of infection rose astronomically showed that in November 2020, the WHO notes that the United States became the first country to have at least ten million confirmed cases. As at December 2020, India became the second country to have at least ten million confirmed cases of COVID-19. Brazil became the third country to have at least ten million confirmed cases In February 2021, while the United Kingdom became the fourth country to have at least ten million confirmed cases in November 2021 [13]. Statistics also showed that Russia became the fifth country to have at least ten million confirmed cases as at December 2021, while at the beginning of 2022, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in France, Italy and Turkey also stood at around ten million. Statistics also revealed that at the beginning of February 2022, Germany and Spain also joined the list of countries with at least ten million cases [13]. The number of confirmed cases continue to grow even in the year 2022 as South Korea joined the list of countries with at least ten million confirmed cases in March 2022, Vietnam in April 2022 and Japan in July 2022. Summarily, 13 countries have at least ten million confirmed cases as at August 2022. Globally, as at October 6, 2022, there are 616,951,418 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 6,530,281 confirmed death [13].

3. The spread of COVID-19 in South Africa

The first confirmed case of COVID-19 was recorded in South Africa on March 1, 2020, when a man later confirmed to have the virus returned with his wife and 8 others from an international trip to Milan, Italy. The confirmed patient travelled via Dubai, to O. R. Tambo International Airport in Kempton Park, Johannesburg and then to King Shaka International Airport in Durban. It was reported on March 3, 2020 that the patient reported sick with symptoms of the virus at a private general practitioner in Durban and was asked to isolate himself while the medical doctor that attended to him also isolated herself as well. This made the Minister of Health, Dr. Zweli Mkhize, to subsequently officially announce the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in South Africa and on March 15, 2020, the President of South Africa, Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa, declared a national state of disaster [9, 14]. New cases started to emerge and it was later announced on March 7, 2020 that a woman from the same travel group from Milan, Italy has also tested positive. The virus slowly started to spread across the country and on November 11, 2020, President Ramaphosa addressed the nation to give an update on the available statistics and government’s efforts towards curding the spread of the virus. Considering the gradual spread of the virus, the President announced the extension of the state of disaster by another month until 15 December 2020. As at November 2020, there were 64,552 new cases, which made the total number of confirmed cases to rise to 790,004 while the death toll rose to 21,535. Statistics at that time also showed that the number of recovered patients was 731,242, with 37,227 active cases at the end of the month [9, 15].

The second wave of COVID-19 was from December 2020 to April 2021 as the President addressed the nation on December 3, 2020 and noted that there has been a resurgence of COVID-19 in some districts of the Eastern and Western Cape provinces, with restrictions tightened for this area. This made the government to extend the national state of disaster until January 15, 2021. The third wave of COVID-19 infections was from May 2021 to October 2021 while the fourth wave was from December 2021 to April 2022 [16]. On midnight of April 4, 2022, the National State of Disaster was ended although the government still kept some transitional provisions in place for a period of 30 days. As the spread and infection of COVID-19 subsided, the South African government on June 22, 2022, through the Minister of Health, Dr. Joe Phaahla, in a notification published in the Government Gazette, repealed the country’s Covid-19 laws, which abolished Covid restrictions such as the use of face masks. As at the first week of October 2022, there have been 4,024,553 COVID-19 infections, 102,246 Coronavirus-related deaths and 3,912,506 recoveries reported in the country since the pandemic began [16, 17].

4. Fake news and people’s perspectives on COVID-19

The impact of COVID-19 has been huge globally as the illness affected millions of people with numerous deaths, which made the world to live in fear. As noted earlier on in this chapter, countries and governments across the globe immediately put in measures such as restricting local and international travel as local and international borders were closed in most cases. Additionally, most countries resort to various levels of regional and national lockdown by ordering their citizens to stay indoors to reduce the spread and impact of the pandemic [18, 19]. There were fears, frustrations, and speculations among South Africans just like in other parts of the world, more so as there was a growing level of mistrust around the source of the virus, the likelihood of a cure and the rising death toll globally. This made people around the world to initiate their own communication to alert and update each other about the realities of the pandemic and also suggestion a likely cure too, even though they are not tested. It was interesting to see how people embraced the digital media platforms to source for information on COVID-19 and content producers also took advantage of this to increase the content production and uploading thousands of texts, images, audio and visuals [1, 20].

There are various reasons attributed to the spread of fake news and misleading information during a pandemic. Some scholarly views note that some individuals decide to spread fake news in an attempt to fill in information gaps about an issue while some do it for mischievous or malicious purposes [21, 22, 23, 24]. Also, during a pandemic, individuals or citizens may not be well informed to be able to distinguish between misleading or fake information and the truth, which would be helpful to them. This is usually the case considering that it is always a time of great uncertainties and fear for everyone. It is even worse nowadays with the use and effect of various forms of social media, which gives people the platform and opportunity to create and upload contents for public consumption. This made the world to witness the creation and circulation of huge amount of fake and misleading information on COVID-19 [25, 26].

Various digital platforms and online sources have therefore witnessed a great explosion of true and false information about COVID-19, its origin, possible effect on humans and possible cures available or that could be tried. While some information noted that COVID-19 was a biological weapon with a patented vaccine, other information noted that it aimed at wiping out a considerable size of the human race as a form of world population control mechanism [27]. There was also misleading information about African genetics being resistant to the COVID-19 virus and likewise various misleading information from Africa and some other parts of the world on untested cures and treatments for the virus [28, 29]. Various digital platforms like YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook, TikTok and Instagram among others were buzzing with texts, images, audio-visual recordings that were being uploaded continuously as people around the world were very active with issues around the virus and possibilities of stopping its spread.

Even though the digital media has served as a platform for disseminating a lot of fake and misleading information on COVID-19, one can still enumerate many personal and professional benefits of using digital media. There is a high usage of Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets for accessing news and all forms of information and this was the case even during the pandemic as people try to get every necessary information that could assist them to keep safe and healthy. This attests to the benefits of using social media and the gratification gleaned from it by the users as South African were also very active digital media users during the pandemic [1]. As noted by Malinga [30], the growth in internet access in South Africa has brought about an increase in social media usage as the number of social media users grew from 25 million (41.9%) in 2020, to almost 30 million in 2021. Presently, there is an estimated 48.8% (30 million) of South Africans being active on social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and TikTok [30].

5. Dealing with the myths around COVID-19 vaccines

The information warfare was huge as COVID-19 spreads globally and its attempt to influence or derail public action will not be easily forgotten as WHO and governments battled to keep the situation under control. There was excessive amount of information on COVID-19, which were positive and negative and this made it difficult for people to know what to believe and what not to believe and most importantly, knowing how to navigate through the troubled waters of COVID-19 era [1, 31]. The infodemic had serious effect on public health globally, more so as nations around the world introduced various levels of national, regional and community lockdowns, which restricted people’s movements. Staying at home made people to spend more time on social media as platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook etc. became sources of information and news with lots of texts and videos circulated continuously [32].

People around the world then had to deal with this massive amount of medical misinformation, rumour, myths and different kinds of conspiracy theories often disseminated through social media platforms and other media outlets. In South Africa, the government, through the numerous President’s ‘Family Meeting’ speeches and other Ministerial Briefings moved with speed to quash the effects of the various myths and misinformation [9]. For instance, the President in his speeches quelled the various COVID-19 vaccine myths and facts such as the one that says that ‘vaccines are unsafe and normal safety protocols have been circumvented to fast track their authorisation for use’. The South African government on its website also debunked this myth by nothing that the fast development and approval of vaccines is a great human feat worthy as the world has learnt over many decades how to make and test vaccines, which has helped to produce a vaccine much quicker. The website also noted that no step in the development, testing or ratification of the COVID-19 vaccines has been skipped. As noted by the President and also documented on the South African government website, the world was able to develop vaccines fast because scientists and governments around the world collaborated and pooled resources and information together to achieve this laudable feat [33].

Other myth that states that the vaccine will change people’s DNA was also rejected as the government noted that vaccines work by stimulating the body the same way the virus would if someone were infected. The government notes that the vaccine releases certain chemicals that start a chain reaction to make immune cells that can fight the real virus and that the vaccine does not work on people’s DNA [34]. Another myth that became scary was the one that stated that vaccines contain a form of microchip that will be used to track and control individuals [35]. This myth also caused panic globally and it made many people to be sceptical about taking the vaccine. The government however moved to dispel this by noting that the vaccine does not contain any microchip and that receiving a vaccine will not allow people to be tracked or have their personal information entered into a database. There is also the myth that governments around the world are complicit with big businesses in pushing vaccines despite the risks involved. People felt that the governments are pushing the vaccine drive because monetary rewards that will accrue to them but the WHO and governments around the world were quick to say that the commitment is to save lives and livelihoods [11, 36]. The South African government also added that the fastest way to ensure that life is back to normal is through ensuring that the majority of the population are fully vaccinated and thus protected from the virus. Another myth noted that the vaccines have the mark of the Beast – 666 but this was also quickly refuted as WHO clarified that the vaccines have no connection with any religious organisations and beliefs and cannot therefore be infused with spirits, demons or other abstract ingredients [11].

6. COVID-19 misinformation, vaccine hesitancy and anti-vaccine

The emergence of COVID-19 myths and the talk around the production and availability of vaccines have in some ways led to the theory of vaccine hesitancy and anti-vaccine globally, with South Africa also having its own share of debates and decisions. Vaccine hesitancy is the reluctance or hesitance to accept to be vaccinated or an individual’s refusal to use the vaccination services [37]. There has always been the issue of vaccine hesitancy throughout medical history and various factors such as lack of confidence in the vaccine, complacency, the convenience of accepting and taking the available vaccine have always influenced people’s decision [35, 37]. Apart from the challenges around vaccine hesitancy, there was also the issue of anti-vaccine, which came up strongly during the peak of the spread of COVID-19 and the global drive towards vaccination. South African media generally and most importantly the various social media outlets such Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube among other were filled with related print and audio-visual information on COVID-19 [38].

As noted by MacDonald [37] and Shen and Dubey [39], there is a difference between being vaccine-hesitant and anti-vaccine. These scholars noted that with vaccine hesitancy, there is still a possibility that people in such category could possibly or eventually proceed to use or accept a specific vaccine. They added that with anti-vaccination, people in such group or with such belief are firmly against considering or accepting the benefits of or taking the developed vaccine. Additionally, it has been noted that the anti-vaccine advocates will also campaign against and seek public support against the use of vaccines [39]. The likely dangers associated with the various myths that emerged as well as personal individual decisions have all played some parts to influence people’s decision to accept and take the vaccine, and to either belong to the vaccine hesitancy group or anti-vaccine group [20].

There are also concerns around the possible side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine, while citizens around the world also have a kind of mistrust against their governments and the vaccination drive. In South Africa, just like in some other parts of the world, it turned out to be very interesting when some health workers also became vaccine-hesitant and this also made some citizens to become cautious about taking the vaccine. People also began to question the decision of this group of health workers as they are the most vulnerable to COVID-19 infection considering their exposure to potential carriers of the virus [40]. It therefore became very important for the World Health Organisation (WHO) and governments of nations around the world to speedily dispel the myths and misinformation around the COVID-19 vaccine and educate people on the need to be vaccinated and thus reduce the spread of the virus. For instance, the South African government through the President’s ‘Family Meeting’ speeches and other Ministerial briefings made sure that citizens were well informed about the available vaccines as well as their safety and effectiveness so that people are able to make informed choices on whether or not to take the vaccine.

7. Theoretical framework: social media as a digital public sphere

This study and chapter is underpinned by the digital public sphere theory. It is important to note from the onset that the public sphere refers to an imagined space that exists between the state and civil society. This space normally provides a platform for rational and diverse debates among citizens on issues that are of common interest to them [19]. The public sphere therefore serves provides opportunities for discursive interaction, which could at times be very critical of the state or any critical occurrence in the society, such as the advent and spread of COVID-19 as in the context of this chapter. Fraser [41], while critiquing Habermans’ bourgeois public sphere theory, notes that various competing and intertwined forces exist within the public sphere. The view here is that while some factions such as the elites support the views of the state on social welfare democracy, other factions such as the peasants, women and working class are of the view that the public sphere does not portray the views of general public opinion. The understanding here is that public sphere represents more of the interests of the influential and some private individuals. The views and arguments of these competing groups or factions therefore give rise to counter-public sphere(s), with their activities and opinions prominent on internet-driven social media, and which counters the public sphere generated by the mass media [19].

Over the years, and especially with the advent of COVID-19, social media has proven to be an ideal place to assess various forms of public opinion, with numerous topics and discourses being engaged with on different social media platforms. It must be noted that social media has been a good platform for political discourses and also for bringing citizens together to fight against repressive rules and also for mobilising citizens to vote during an election. It was therefore not a surprise that social media has been at the forefront of health communication and mobilisation. Social media should therefore not just be seen as mere technology or platform but be looked at considering its unique forms and shapes that the society takes when social media is used, which in turn makes the society to be technologized [19]. According to Papacharissi [42] and Mutanga et al. [19], the internet invigorates the public sphere as it brings to life a virtual sphere that does not manifest physically but at the same time bring people together to deliberate, be informed and also achieve their goals. Papacharissi [42] further notes that in light of this, the internet and the emergent online media in a way creates a public space for all these engagements and not necessarily a public sphere [19].

In the context of this chapter, it is therefore important to note the ability of the online media and the platform that it provides for private individuals and groups to challenge the public agenda and have discourses around the emergence of COVID-19, its rapid spread and possibilities of a cure and possible treatments. It is also more about having a platform to look at and challenge official statistics of COVID-19 mortality and illnesses, debate the challenges around the various levels of lockdowns and self-isolation measures introduced by most governments worldwide [18, 19, 24]. It must however be noted that social media allows for anonymity, as the identity of content producers or online contributors are sometimes hidden or fake identity used. This therefore gives room for uninhibited public opinions and the liberty to post or upload fake news and messages on COVID-19. Citizens are however then exposed to different forms of information, both fake and true in the public/virtual sphere as they engage with government communication as well as various contents produced and circulated by individuals who have access to upload contents online. Social media is therefore an ideal space to gauge public opinions and sentiments in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic [19].

8. Research question

What are people’s perspectives on COVID-19, Fake news and the vaccination drive in South Africa.

9. Methodology

This study adopts a qualitative approach and this was important for the study to get a very good understanding of the phenomenon being investigated. Non-probability sampling and convenience sampling was used to select the fifty (50) participants and the focus area was Alice and Fort Beaufort in the Amathole Municipal District Area in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Data was analysed using thematic analysis by paying careful attention to the emerging themes. In addition, content analysis was also carried out on fake news or comments on News 24, a South Africa online newspapers and also the South African government official website. Content analysis is very useful in helping to analyse peoples’ comments on certain issues and thus know the views of the participants [43]. The contents analysed were picked in line with the research questions that guided this study. Key words like “COVID-19” and “fake news” were looked out for as online newspaper articles and social media messages were analysed focusing on issues related to this study. Data was subsequently analysed qualitatively using thematic analysis.

10. Data analysis

10.1 Exposure to COVID-19 information, fake news and misinformation

The participants interviewed confirmed that they were exposed to many fake news and misinformation as the COVID-19 started and continued to spread in South Africa. They noted that they were daily exposed to or bombarded with different kinds of information, fake news and misinformation. Below are some of the views of the participants:

“We wake up every morning to new information on COVID-19. Some information looked correct, some are fake and make us to have wrong information on COVID. Many times we got wrong information about the national lockdown being extended but they were lies”

(Alice Interview Participant 2)

“Every day, there was too much information on COVID-19. For me, it was a mixture of the good and information”

(Fort Beaufort Interview Participant 1)

“We get exposed to so much information on COVID-19 every day and everywhere. It was just too much information to cope with”

(Alice Interview Participant 4)

“We couldn’t control the volume of true and fake information on COVID that came our way every day and from different angles. There was one that said that landlords should not collect rents during lockdown but it was a lie”

(Fort Beaufort Interview Participant 2)

“We were exposed to bad and good information on COVID-19. Some are good and helpful to us. Some are bad and wrong information”

(Alice Interview Participant 7)

“COVID-19 dominated and affected our lives too much. We do expect to receive information on it so that we know what to do ….. but then it was too much information that we got and some of them were not true….. like the kind of food or fruits to eat or medications or local herbs to take to avoid being infected by the virus”

(Fort Beaufort Interview Participant 10)

“For me, it was information overload on COVID-19. Left, right and centre, we get exposed to all forms of COVID-19 messages. It was too much to cope with”

(Alice Interview Participant 12)

“I have never been exposed to so much messages and information in my life as people pass around too much information on COVID-19. Yhoo, it was that bad. There was a time when we heard that we will need permits to enter shops or move around but it was fake”

(Fort Beaufort Interview Participant 6)

“The high volume of bad or fake COVID-19 messages that we receive every day from different sources made life difficult for us”

(Alice Interview Participant 25)

News 24, a South African media house through its online platform was able to debunk some of these fake news through its caption: CORONAVIRUS LIES | Debunking the hoaxes around Covid-19 (March 15, 2020).

News 24 notes that as the novel coronavirus continues to spread around the globe, so does misinformation, fear, fake cures, fake news and malicious hoaxes. Here we debunk that news. The newspaper listed a lot of fake news and debunked them. Some of the fake news include” Extending lockdown, government funding for only black-owned businesses, pets and hand sanitisers, Ibuprofen fake news, Department rubbishes letter claiming landlords cannot collect rent from tenants, Helicopter fake news – that helicopters are not going to fly around South Africa spraying chemicals to stop the virus. In addition, the South African government on its official website also continuously debunked all these fake news [44, 45, 46].

The views of the participants stated above are echoed by some scholars who noted that the advent of COVID-19 ushered in a period synonymous with high volume of fake news circulation [18, 19]. Balakrishnan et al. [21] also noted that COVID-19 and its nature afforded various content producers the opportunity to create different kinds of fake messages that were widely circulated on different platforms. No doubt, online content producers took advantage of the challenges and uncertainties around COVID-19 to come up with some scary and untrue messages to catch people’s attention and misinform the populace.

10.2 Social media platforms used as sources of fake news and misinformation

The participants interviewed confirmed that various social media platforms or outlets were used to propagate or circulate COVID-19 fake news and misinformation. They noted that the common channels used include WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok among others as they get exposed every day to various kinds of information, fake news and misinformation. Below are some of the views of the participants:

“Different channels of communication were used to circulate the latest information on COVID-19. I belong to some group chats and do get exposed to so much information that are helpful and some other information were scary and fake”

(Alice Interview Participant 20)

“I only have access to WhatsApp and you won’t believe the amount of COVID-19 information that are circulated every day”

(Fort Beaufort Interview Participant 10)

“I am more on Facebook and there are countless messages on Facebook that focus on COVID-19. Some of these messages are fake as they talk about unreasonable things”

(Alice Interview Participant 17)

“I use most of the social media platforms and do get exposed to lies about COVID-19 on WhatsApp, Facebook and even YouTube”.

(Alice Interview Participant 25)

“We get various COVID-19 messages everyday…… on Radio and Television and the messages are useful and true. But the messages we get on social media platforms are dangerous and not truthful most of the time”

(Fort Beaufort Interview Participant 16)

“We were exposed to bad and good information on COVID-19. Some are good and helpful to us. Some are bad and with wrong information”

(Alice Interview Participant 17)

“COVID-19 messages were on television, radio and online platforms. I do access my information on WhatsApp, TikTok and television.

(Fort Beaufort Interview Participant 25)

“I got various COVID-19 fake messages on Facebook, WhatsApp, TikTok and YouTube. Various messages were posted one after the other”

(Alice Interview Participant 12)

“Fake news was everywhere as COVID spread …….. on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube etc. It was just everywhere in the media and it was bad for our survival”

(Alice Interview Participant 14)

Looking at the above, there is a general consensus among the participants to show that content producers used various media outlets to circulate fake messages as COVID-19 spreads. Chari and Akpojivi [1], Fernández-Torres et al. [25] and Greene and Murphy [36] all noted that social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook among others were filled with various fake messages and misinformation that were circulated consistently. The fact that most people globally now spend some hours or minutes on social media makes such people to be vulnerable as they are exposed to such untrue messages.

10.3 Effect of fake news and misinformation on people

Most participants believed that listening to or hearing COVID-19 fake messages has affected them in some ways, physically and emotionally, more so as they exposed to texts, audio and video messages. They further noted that some of these messages affected their thoughts and action when trying to make some decisions around COVID-19. Below after some of the views of the participants:

“Fake news made me to be fearful of COVID-19. Some news indicated that everyone will eventually be infected with the virus and die”

(Alice Interview Participant 20)

“The fake news on how wearing a mask could suffocate and kill was scary, more so as we are also told to wear our mask to avoid being infected”

(Fort Beaufort Interview Participant 10)

“The fake news on the dangers of taking the vaccines affected me most as I was planning to be vaccinated and protect myself. But hearing that taking vaccines is dangerous and that it could kill made me to initially change my mind, although I later on got vaccinated”

(Alice Interview Participant 17)

“The fake news on the available vaccines and that one is better than the other or that one kills while one is safe with the other …… this really affected me and many people too. It makes me to initially refuse to be vaccinated although I changed my mind after seeing people close to me that got vaccinated and were fine”.

(Fort Beaufort Interview Participant 22)

“The government told us that masks must be put on when we go out and around places, but then, the news that wearing of mask is not healthy was bad as some people decided to do without the masks, which could harm their health. Other fake news were circulated too”

(Alice Interview Participant 15)

“These online texts and video circulated contained true and untrue messages on COVID-19. While we gained from the true ones, the untrue messages really affected our decisions and what to do to be safe during the pandemic”

(Fort Beaufort Interview Participant 18)

“Various COVID-19 fake messages were continuously circulated on Facebook, WhatsApp, TikTok and YouTube and believing some of them was also harmful as some people made wrong choices ad decision towards managing COVID-19. It was bad”.

(Alice Interview Participant 12)

“The news on various untested COVID-19 treatments was bad for people’s health and recovery as it stopped some people from going to the hospital to get proper medical attention”.

(Fort Beaufort Interview Participant 11)

“There were many scary messages on COVID-19 that do not make sense but that we were made to consume and some of these messages affected our thinking and actions as we try to keep safe during the pandemic”.

(Alice Interview Participant 14)

Indeed, the effect of fake news and misinformation was huge as COVID-19 spreads globally. The fear of the unknown, anxieties, fear and wrong portrayal of some COVID-19 related messages affected a lot of people around the world. Hartley and Khuong [23], Balakrishnan et al. [21], Carrion-Alvarez and Tijerina-Salina [22] and Rocha et al. [24] all attest to the fear associated with fake news and misinformation on COVID-19. It must be noted that people need the right message and every needed information as they navigate through the troubled waters of COVID-19 and it therefore becomes a problem when people have to contend with fake messages that could be detrimental to their health and survival.

11. Discussion

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic came with various challenges for nations of the world, international organisations and agencies and individuals to cope with. As the virus continued to spread at an alarming rate, many countries around the world began to look for ways to halt its spread through revised health policies and action, which made them to work round the clock to reduce infection rates and thus flatten the infection and death curves. It was also important for citizens to be well informed on how to keep safe during the pandemic. While the World Health Organisation (WHO) and governments responded well in this regard, the influx of high volumes of fake news and misinformation became a threat to people’s coping strategies to keep safe and avoid being infected by the virus. This chapter has found out from various literature and responses of the participants that were part of this study that social media was flooded with fake news and misinformation related to the virus and its origins, which social media users consumed every day. Other misinformation that were circulated includes various suggestions on possible remedies and cures for the virus, such as foods to eat and other things to do to avoid catching the virus or be treated if infected. Unfortunately, most of these suggestions are not tested or clinically proven and thus labelled as risky by the WHO. People’s perspectives and engagement with fake news and misinformation was therefore critical for a safe navigation through the turbulent waters of the pandemic.

The Chapter or this study has found out that people got exposed to different kinds of COVID-19 information, fake news and misinformation on a daily basis. The fact that most people now spend a considerable part of their time on social media also makes them to be more vulnerable to these barrage of information. The fact that South Africa, like most countries was under national lockdown, made or force people to stay indoors and also spend more time on social media. Social media content producers also capitalised on this scenario by creating and circulating different kinds of COVID-19 related information for people’s consumption. Some scholars have noted that the advent of COVID-19 witnessed a very high circulation of fake news and misinformation as content producers target vulnerable people that have been ‘trapped’ at home during the lockdown [1, 19]. As noted by Ghosh et al., [18] and Orso et al. [35], many online content producers capitalised on the fear, anxieties and uncertainties around the nature of COVID-19 to create different kinds of fake messages that were widely circulated on different platforms. While some messages accurately inform consumers, some messages were aimed at misinforming the people as content producers sought to profit from scary and untrue messages that will catch people’s attention and misinform the populace. The participants in this study noted unanimously that they were daily exposed to a mixture of true and untrue COVID-19 messages, which impacted on their daily live during the pandemic. As noted by Mutanga et al. [19], social media as a digital public sphere is therefore an ideal space to gauge public opinions and sentiments in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Chapter also established that various social media platforms or outlets were digital public sphere used to circulate these fake news and misinformation. This was motivated by the fact that people nowadays spend a considerable part of their time on social media platforms such as Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok among others. The regular usage of these platforms therefore make the people to be exposed every day to various kinds of information, fake news and misinformation. Looking at the above, there is a general consensus among the participants that various social media platforms or outlets were used by different online content producers to circulate fake messages and misinformation as COVID-19 spreads. Mutanga et al. [19], Fernández-Torres et al. [25] and Greene and Murphy [36] all noted that social media platforms such as Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook among others were flooded with various fake messages that were circulated consistently. The fact that most people globally are social media ‘addicts’ makes such people to be easily available to see and consume many untrue messages, which could impact on them in some ways.

Lastly, this chapter has found out that the global inflow of fake news and misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic had varying effects on people. The Chapter noted that listening to or hearing COVID-19 fake messages has affected many people physically and emotionally as they engaged with the texts, audio and video messages that they were exposed to. These messages affected people’s thoughts and action when trying to make some decisions around COVID-19 and how to cope with it. This shows the power and effect of fake news as it plays on people’s mind. Also, the fear of the unknown, anxieties and wrong portrayal of some COVID-19 related messages affected a lot of people around the world. Hartley and Khuong [23], Balakrishnan et al. [21], Carrion-Alvarez and Tijerina-Salina [22] and Rocha et al. [24] all attest to the fear associated with fake news and misinformation on COVID-19, which made people not to be sure of what to do. Having to deal with huge volumes of fake news during a pandemic complicated things and made life unbearable for the general public also detrimental to their health and survival. This is because people need the right and helpful messages as they navigate through the troubled waters of COVID-19.

12. Conclusion

The advent and spread of COVID-19 has brought untold hardships on individuals, families, organisations, nations and governments around the world. This was evident in the extremely high number of hospitalisation and deaths that were recorded around the world. Countries have also felt the devastating economic impact of the pandemic as various sectors of the economy were severely crippled as the virus spread uncontrollably. While some countries were able to move with speed to contain the spread of the virus, some countries struggled to halt its spread. Availability and effective use of financial and human resources also played a big role in this process as countries around the world sought to keep their citizens safe. Another big challenge that the world faced as the virus spread was the need to counter and mitigate the rapid spread of infodemic. This Chapter has discussed and noted the impact of fake news and misinformation as the pandemic ravaged through the world. The role and use of various social media platforms in propagating the infodemic is also prominent as some individuals and organisations too advantage of the panic and uncertainties around the world regarding the virus to create unverified media contents that posed a threat to the end of COVID-19. Individuals around the world also attested to the impact of fake news and misinformation as they navigate their safety and other decisions on how to cope during the pandemic and whether to be vaccinated or not. The speedy and continuous intervention of the World Health Organisation (WHO), governments and organisations around the world helped in many ways to educate the public about the COVID-19 infodemic and also contain the spread pf the virus.