Across the Caribbean, communicators of public health and safety information related to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as disaster preparedness have been challenged by disinformation –the deliberate spreading of false information to deceive people. The main source of disinformation has been social media with its constant torrent of fake news, rumours, and inaccuracies in a largely unregulated environment.
In The Bahamas, Government notices on Hurricane Dorian relief in 2019 and early pandemic messaging, coupled with the increased use of digital platforms as a temporary replacement for traditional media, “served as both a breeding ground and accelerant for disinformation due to the widespread uncertainty regarding the pandemic,” according to a December 2022 situation report from the island-chain country.
These are among the research findings from eight countries across the Caribbean contained in the December 2022 publication titled Situation Report: Media literacy, disinformation & misinformation in the Caribbean 2022. The countries include The Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad & Tobago. The situation reports on each country are compiled in the publication. It was published by the United Kingdom-based Public Media Alliance in collaboration with the UNESCO Cluster Office of the Caribbean, the Media Institute of the Caribbean, and the Association of Caribbean Media Workers.
The Ministry of Health in Grenada had to condemn “fake news” related to COVID-19, according to the 2022 country report. “The conspiracy theories and vaccine hesitancy were more effective than the authorities in convincing the majority of people to get vaccinated and adhere to COVID-19 protocols,” noted social scientist Lornadale Charles. Grenada also suffered from “misinformation [that] complicates the disaster management process by creating unnecessary panic, wasting resources, and undermining the authority of the disaster management team,”as indicated by a previous study in 2021. Misinformation is the unintentional dissemination of information that is false or inaccurate.
The Guyana situation report also identified COVID-19 pandemic and other health issues along with the environment as being prone to both misinformation and disinformation. In Trinidad & Tobago, disinformation appeared in “misleading messages about the [novel corona virus] disease, treatments, vaccines and official interventions to prevent spread.” In addition, there has been concerns about disinformation in relation to the claims of “wonder drugs as a cure for all ailments’’.
While disinformation was evident in the flow of information about public health and disaster management within some countries, politics was the main source across the region. Respondents in Barbados believed that politics and government significantly influence messaging. According to one respondent, partisan politics is like religion in Barbados where “many disinformation topics surround the political structure, personal attacks, and allegations.”
In St Vincent and the Grenadines “disinformation [was] put into the public sphere by mainstream political actors who are hoping to shift public attitudes surrounding a government decision to gain traction.” The Jamaica situation report states that “online disinformation tends to skyrocket during the election periods as opposing parties seek to score political points.”
Denis Chabrol, a media operator in Guyana, believes that disinformation is widespread, particularly in politics. He opined that “politicians on all sides of the political arena essentially seek to amend facts, even though slightly amending them.” Better understood as “fake news” in Suriname, disinformation is most apparent in political news “because politicians themselves deliberately spread misinformation,” the country reported stated.
Summary of disinformation topics
Politics
Crime
Pandemic/public health
Environment
Governance issues
Economics
Sports
Personal issues
Religion and church
Race, gender, sexuality
Although social media platforms are the main conveyor and driver of disinformation and misinformation, traditional media have contributed to a lesser extent to the phenomenon, according to the December 2022 situation report. In St Vincent and the Grenadines, researcher Colvin Harry identified on-air radio hosts as conduits for disinformation. Other country researchers pointed to callers of radio talk shows as purveyors of mis-and-disinformation. In addition, media managers have been accused of inadequate fact checking, especially of stories originating from social media.
To reduce mis/disinformation, the situation report by Public Media Alliance offers recommendations including media literacy training for journalists as well as members of the public, the establishment of a regional fact-checking site among other measures, and the establishment of entry-level certification for media practitioners.
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