Impact of Covid-19 misinformation and disinformation on newsrooms

Covid-19 has infected more than two million people in the country since it was first discovered in Malaysia in January 2020.

The spread of the disease has become more complicated and difficult to manage in the past year with the emergence of variants that are more transmissible and infectious.

However, a large percentage of Malaysia's population of about 32 million has been fully vaccinated since the nationwide vaccination rollout in February 2021.

Similar to the Covid-19 pandemic, the spread of misinformation and disinformation related to the disease and tonnes of conspiracy theories have appeared all over social media.

The digital space has created an infodemic. The World Health Organisation (WHO) defined an infodemic as “too much information including false or misleading information in digital and physical environments during a disease outbreak.”

Misinformation and disinformation of Covid-19 can cause...