Pursuit of verified content: Covid infodemic can be as terrible as virus

Cow urine (applied or ingested), cow dung (ditto), turmeric, salt, vinegar, miracle vaccines, miracle drugs, conspiracy theories: The Covid-19 pandemic has created an “infodemic” of fake news. 

This misinformation is dangerous in itself. Refuting misinformation and preventing its spread is crucial. When a famous politician pooh-poohs masks, or someone publishes pictures of himself swimming in cow urine, they put credulous individuals at risk. (The man who refuses to wear a mask, and the man who bathed in cow urine both got the disease.) 

How does one counter infodemics? In May, the United Nations set up a global initiative, “Verified”, in