Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Jun 03, 2025

The people fighting viral fakes from their sofas

Social media companies are struggling to contain a wave of coronavirus misinformation. Into the breach have stepped volunteers who are fighting to stop rumours, bad advice and conspiracy theories from going viral.

Rachael Hogg is currently juggling her busy job as a project manager and teaching her nine-year-old from her home in the market town of Morpeth, about 15 miles north of Newcastle.

But if that wasn't enough, each day she's also deleting as many as 50 misleading posts about coronavirus from the local Facebook group she runs.


Information frontline volunteers

Morpeth Matters has 22,000 members - substantially more than the actual population of the town. The group's numbers are swelled by former residents and people from surrounding villages who turn to Facebook for local info.

"The group has been overwhelmed with scaremongering, speculation about what's in the supermarkets, conspiracy theories and misleading posts," Rachael explains after a long day of home-schooling and work around her kitchen table.

In normal times she'd be out socialising with friends or performing official business - she's a town councillor. But at the moment she's spending what she calls "an unhealthy amount of time" online.

"Somebody once said to me, if it's on Morpeth Matters, it must be true," she says. "I think people are more likely to believe what's posted in local Facebook groups, because it seems to come from within their community."

Rachael has had to reject false posts about tanks on the streets of Newcastle, untrustworthy information about how the virus is spread and a questionable post attributed to an unnamed "NHS worker". That post contained a mix of accurate information and potentially panic-inducing phrases ("do not leave home for bread or anything!") that do not align with current guidelines.

Rachael says misleading information online has caused people in the town to rush out to supermarkets, panic their neighbours and inundate local schools with phone calls.


Social media problems

Volunteer moderators like Rachael have stepped in as staffing at the big social media companies has been hit by coronavirus.

Facebook says it's operating with a "reduced and remote workforce", so it is prioritising investigating the most harmful content.

Similarly, YouTube and Twitter are relying less on human moderators and more on automated flagging tools and artificial intelligence.

Apps 'need dedicated fake coronavirus news button'
Social giants police web with AI as staff sent home


Worry in Walthamstow

Waqas Hussain, who was born and raised in Walthamstow in north-east London, is an accountant with four children. He's also a moderator of Walthamstow Residents NEWS, which has more than 28,000 members.

"Misleading posts are deleted and the debunking is posted," he says. "No fake news allowed."

Waqas says he feels "a sense of duty to ensure only factual information gets published", and so he investigates posts in a way that's not dissimilar to professional fact-checkers.

"I will spend some time looking up the facts and then do a long post about it. There is all sorts [of bad information] - posts about the seriousness of coronavirus, shops being fined and links from unscrupulous websites. All such posts are deleted as soon as I see them."

That includes YouTube videos being shared about a conspiracy theory which falsely links 5G to coronavirus. Proponents of the theory have been behind a rash of attacks on mobile phone infrastructure.

In between rounds of board games with his children, Waqas recently investigated a photo of a fake message claiming to be from the government and threatening fines if people leave their homes, even for essential goods. It too got deleted.


Scaremongering in Swindon

Another Facebook group, Swindon Community Notice Board, has more than 18,000 members.

It might have become a hotbed of misinformation were it not for its moderators, Debra Collins and Graham Stobbs. They say they reject around 150 misleading posts every single day.

The 49-year-olds usually run music events together. Army veteran Graham, who has post-traumatic stress disorder, is particularly busy since he's using his exercise time to train for a kayak challenge to raise money for a mental health charity.

But at the moment, Debra and Graham say they are distracted "all day every day" by the group. Thousands of members have joined since the start of the pandemic.

"We work closely with our local authority and local MPs to ensure there is consistent and correct information shared," Debra says.

A lot of the posts they reject are scaremongering "from non-official sources which later turned out to be fake news," she says.

A similar thing is happening in a local Facebook group in Stoke-on-Trent.

A medical receptionist, who runs the group but asked not to be named because of her job, told BBC News that she's been stopping misleading medical information from reaching the rest of the group.

"One post encouraged everyone to try and get hold of inhalers used by asthma sufferers to combat the virus. This puts horrendous pressure on the NHS as patients call us requesting inhalers that are not only useless, but they are not entitled to be prescribed."

A local GP surgery in the area even had to issue a statement because of the number of people contacting them after hearing false news on Facebook about fictional coronavirus "rescue packs".

In a crisis like this one, some people are trying to pitch in wherever they can - including in the fight against online misinformation.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
China Accuses US of Violating Trade Truce
Panama Port Owner Balances US-China Pressures
France Implements Nationwide Outdoor Smoking Ban to Protect Children
German Chancellor Merz Keeps Putin Guessing on Missile Strategy
Mandelson Criticizes UK's 'Fetish' for Abandoning EU Regulations
British Fishing Boat Owner Fined €30,000 by French Authorities
Dutch government falls as far-right leader Wilders quits coalition
Harvard Urges US to Unfreeze Funds for Public Health Research
Businessman Mauled by Lion at Luxury Namibian Lodge
Researchers Consider New Destinations Beyond the U.S.
53-Year-Old Doctor Claims Biological Age of 23
Trump Struggles to Secure Trade Deals With China and Europe
Russia to Return 6,000 Corpses Under Ukraine Prisoner Swap Deal
Microsoft Lays Off Hundreds More Amid Restructuring
Harvey Weinstein’s Publicist Embraces Notoriety
Macron and Meloni Seek Unity Despite Tensions
Trump Administration Accused of Obstructing Deportation Cases
Newark Mayor Sues Over Arrest at Immigration Facility
Center-Left Candidate Projected to Win South Korean Presidency
Trump’s Tariffs Predicted to Stall Global Economic Growth
South Korea’s President-Elect Expected to Take Softer Line on Trump and North Korea
Trump’s China Strategy Remains a Geopolitical Puzzle
Ukraine Executes Long-Range Drone Strikes on Russian Airbases
Conservative Karol Nawrocki wins Poland’s presidential election
Study Identifies Potential Radicalization Risk Among Over One Million Muslims in Germany
Good news: Annalena Baerbock Elected President of the UN General Assembly
Apple Appeals EU Law Over User Data Sharing Requirements
South Africa: "First Black Bank" Collapses after Being Looted by Owners
Poland will now withdraw from the EU migration pact after pro-Trump nationalist wins Election
"That's Disgusting, Don’t Say It Again": The Trump Joke That Made the President Boil
Trump Cancels NASA Nominee Over Democratic Donations
Paris Saint-Germain's Greatest Triumph Is Football’s Lowest Point
OnlyFans for Sale: From Lockdown Lifeline to Eight-Billion-Dollar Empire
Mayor’s Security Officer Implicated | Shocking New Details Emerge in NYC Kidnapping Case
Hegseth Warns of Potential Chinese Military Action Against Taiwan
OPEC+ Agrees to Increase Oil Output for Third Consecutive Month
Jamie Dimon Warns U.S. Bond Market Faces Pressure from Rising Debt
Turkey Detains Istanbul Officials Amid Anti-Corruption Crackdown
Taylor Swift Gains Ownership of Her First Six Albums
Bangkok Ranked World's Top City for Remote Work in 2025
Satirical Sketch Sparks Political Spouse Feud in South Korea
Indonesia Quarry Collapse Leaves Multiple Dead and Missing
South Korean Election Video Pulled Amid Misogyny Outcry
Asian Economies Shift Away from US Dollar Amid Trade Tensions
Netflix Investigates Allegations of On-Set Mistreatment in K-Drama Production
US Defence Chief Reaffirms Strong Ties with Singapore Amid Regional Tensions
Vietnam Faces Strategic Dilemma Over China's Mekong River Projects
Malaysia's First AI Preacher Sparks Debate on Islamic Principles
White House Press Secretary Criticizes Harvard Funding, Advocates for Vocational Training
France to Implement Nationwide Smoking Ban in Outdoor Spaces Frequented by Children
×