Disinformation, Misinformation and Inequality-Driven Mistrust in the Time of COVID-19: Lessons Unlearned from AIDS Denia
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Disinformation, Misinformation and Inequality‑Driven Mistrust in the Time of COVID‑19: Lessons Unlearned from AIDS Denialism J. Jaiswal1,2,3,5 · C. LoSchiavo3 · D. C. Perlman4,5
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
During a pandemic about which too little is known, public health is facing a crisis on multiple levels, including regarding COVID-19 related- health messaging. With the federal government’s inadequate, inconsistent and largely nonevidence-based response [1–3], and the far reach of social media “armchair experts” [4, 5], tremendous uncertainty, fear, and anger has emerged with respect to the origins, treatments and prevention methods regarding COVID-19. Much of the evidence needed to fully inform clinical and public health responses is not yet available, making COVID19 uniquely vulnerable to a proliferation of disinformation, misinformation, and medical mistrust, including what are often called “conspiracy beliefs” [6, 7]. Disinformation (strategically and deliberately spread false information), misinformation (false information, not necessarily with intent to mislead), and mistrust (more than the lack of trust; suspicion of ill intent) are multi-faceted phenomena, with heterogeneous underlying motivating factors. The purpose of this commentary is to suggest that understanding the etiologies of disinformation, misinformation, and medical mistrust must be an important component of the public health response to COVID-19. This is especially critical when considering how the pandemic has affected communities of color, including Asian communities who have been blamed for the * J. Jaiswal [email protected] 1
Department of Health Science, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401, USA
2
Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS, Yale University School of Public Health, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
3
Center for Health, Identity, Behavior and Prevention Studies, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, USA
4
Division of Infectious Diseases, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
5
Center for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research, New York University, New York, NY, USA
introduction of SARS-CoV-2 to the U.S. [8, 9] and Black communities who have been blamed for higher fatality rates among Black populations [10]. We propose that two main forms of pushback against dominant scientific evidence have become prominent during COVID-19: (1) disinformation propagated at the institutional/federal government level to preserve power and undermine already marginalized groups, and (2) inequality-driven mistrust among communities that have been made vulnerable by historical and ongoing structural inequities. While these two forms do not constitute a strict dichotomy, this distinction can help inform strategies to address erroneous information and mistrust and inform public health messaging. “Conspiracy beliefs,” characterized as “attempts to explain the ultimate cause of an event…as a secret plot by a covert alliance of powerful individuals or organizat
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