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Spreading Fake Animal News Is Dangerous Too
A digital media researcher explains why it’s so tempting to spread fake animal news
A lot has changed in the past few months as Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, ravages the globe. But the more things change, the more they stay the same, and humans — and their social media habits — have remained pretty much what they were like before phrases like “flatten the curve,” “Zoom meeting,” and, in my line of work as a professor, “continuity of instruction” became part of our daily vernacular.
Last week, National Geographic published an article titled “Fake Animal News Abounds on Social Media as Coronavirus Upends Life.” The piece mentioned many stories that had gone viral while the pandemic raged around us. Many of these viral bits were uplifting and cheerful, and they included stories such as swans and dolphins returning to Venice canals since humans had vacated public life. A similar story involved a group of elephants raiding vats of corn wine in the Yunnan Province in China, where they drank so much that they passed out in a tea garden. These stories about swans, dolphins, and elephants roaming freely because human public gatherings have been prohibited offered some heartwarming news in the face of dangerous, uncertain times, and they seem to underscore an unspoken point…
