London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

10 ways to spot fake news about the coronavirus pandemic before you spread it

It’s easy to hit ‘retweet’ on something that’s just not true, but spreading fake coronavirus news doesn’t help anyone. From verifying accounts to trusting your gut, here are 10 steps you can take to verify information on social media before you share it

Bad information about the novel coronavirus appears to be contagious.

The temptation to share unverified but alarming information is understandable. Many of the people who share hoaxes don’t do it to mislead – they think they’re sharing valuable information with their friends and family.

But it’s easy to hit “retweet” on something that’s just not true. And false information isn’t helpful to anyone.

“We’re not just fighting an epidemic; we’re fighting an infodemic,” World Health Organisation director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on February 15. “Fake news spreads faster and more easily than this virus and is just as dangerous.”

For starters, if someone high up in the government or military was attempting to communicate vital information to American citizens, they probably wouldn’t do it with a rambling screenshot from the Notes app.

Another hot topic: ibuprofen. The French doctor who originally advised people not to take it probably meant well, but medical experts around the world say there’s no evidence ibuprofen is linked to a higher risk of 1Covid1-19 infection – the disease caused by the novel coronavirus – nor has it been linked to increased complications from the disease.

US President Donald Trump, no stranger to repeating rumours that would reflect well on him, has frequently claimed that certain existing drugs could treat the coronavirus. Tesla CEO Elon Musk shared that optimism. But while scientists are working to test the efficacy of the malaria drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine in fighting the virus, there’s currently no reliable, published, peer-reviewed evidence on the subject.

The US Food and Drug Administration has not approved either drug to treat the disease, and no one should be attempting to self-medicate with it. Already, this bad information has had tragic repercussions: a man reportedly died after ingesting chloroquine at home in Arizona in hopes of preventing the coronavirus.

So take a beat before you retweet. Here are some ways to verify what you’re reading before you share:


Verify the account that’s posting the information

Check the account. Are they verified on Twitter or Facebook? That lends more credibility to what they say. If they aren’t verified, do more checking.


Check the photo on the account

Does it seem like a real person, or is it a photo of a celebrity or something generic, like a sunset or a flower? You can use reverse Google Image search to see if the photo was taken from elsewhere on the internet.


Check the age of the account and how many followers it has

A brand-new account with a dozen followers is unlikely to be one that’s breaking major national news.

Scroll back through some older posts – has the account always shared news, or was it a meme account a month ago?


Take note of how the news is being presented to you

Is it just in a tweet? Is there a link to a longer story somewhere? Again, a screenshot of an email, text message, Google Doc or Notes app is unlikely to be good information.


Check the source

Is the account attributing the information to an organisation, a politician, a news outlet, or “a friend of a friend”? Good information will have a reputable name to back it up.


Verify the site the information is coming from

If there’s a link, click it. Does it go where you expected it to go? Check the URL – are you really on the site you think you’re on, or does something seem off? Look for strange spelling and anything weird in the web address. A website you’ve never heard of is unlikely to be the first and only source for major breaking news, no matter how slick the layout looks.


Check the byline

Is it a real name? Click through to the bio page – does it sound real? Does the author have social media accounts where you can verify that he or she is an actual reporter? This is another opportunity to use Google Image reverse search if there’s a photo.


Verify the information itself

The best way to verify a piece of information is to see whether reliable news outlets have reported it. As news organisations, there is a burden on us to do more digging to verify things before we share them on social media. We don’t always get it right, but there’s a better chance something tweeted from your local newspaper is true than something from a completely random person with no accountability to anyone.


Read the story or post

Does the wording sound off – maybe like it was run through Google Translate a few times? That’s one way fake news websites rip off articles from legitimate sites.


Trust your gut

If there’s a nagging voice in the back of your head saying, “Eh, I’m not entirely sure this is true,” or “Wow, that sounds kind of far-fetched, but who knows?”, it’s better to hold off on sharing it until you can verify.

If you see someone on social media sharing information that’s not true, try to be gentle when pointing it out. Correcting false information can backfire. People are prone to be defensive and to double down when they’re challenged. We’re all a little tense right now. Be kind.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×