Disinfodemy, a new social wordwide disease (Reflections on the COVID-19 health crisis)

Abstract

This essay addresses in an analytical and argumentative way false or distorted information, in the context of the health crisis caused by COVID-19 since 2020, the year in which this pandemic appeared, knowing that timely and reliable guidance is a matter of life and death. The disinfodemy, as this communicational phenomenon has been called, has been fostered by the digital media. This paper provides a perspective on the scope of the terms used in this communicational problem, explaining and discussing the various theories of the origin of the virus which started in social networks. It also analyzes the contents published in the digital media regarding the myths about the prevention and treatment of the disease and identifies the different consequences of digital disinfodemy on the Nicaraguan population.