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Be Informed

Helping students ensure their work is fact and evidence based

Source: Black, S. (2020). Vector graphic courtesy of Vecteezy.

COVID-19 Coronavirus false and exaggerated news

VirusAdvice on how to spot fake news about the COVID-19 coronavirus
Articles about fake news and the COVID-19 coronavirus
Watch the following two short video clips. Ask yourself:
  • How do the two presenters talk about COVID-19?
  • Which presenter uses facts?

"Is Covid-19 any worse than seasonal flu? Does hand sanitizer, or alcohol, kill coronavirus? Should you be wearing a face mask and should you be worried about your dog getting coronavirus? The global outbreak has spawned numerous questions, myths and outright misinformation about what to do and how to avoid spreading the virus. Wired Magazine asked Dr Bharat Pankhania, Senior Clinical Lecturer at Exeter Medical School and an expert in communicable disease control, to debunk some of the most common myths surrounding the virus outbreak, also known as Covid-19. (Wired, 2020)

Source

When using this video don't forget to cite and reference your sources. For more information and help see the Kerferd Library referencing guide and / or CiteMaker.
In text reference / citation: Wired (2020) or (Wired, 2020)
Bibliography / Reference list: Wired, (2020). Disease Control Expert Debunks Coronavirus Myths, [eVideo]. https://youtu.be/0h_VFRqibIg

Former Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives, Bronwyn Bishop told Paul Murray on Sky Trash she believes the Coronavirus is a Chinese biological weapon to “get rid of non productive Chinese” (Bishop, B., 2020, March 6), export the virus to the US and send the world economy into recession.

Source

When using this video don't forget to cite and reference your sources. For more information and help see the Kerferd Library referencing guide and / or CiteMaker.
In text reference / citation: Bishop (2020, March 6) or (Bishop, 2020, March 6)
Bibliography / Reference list: Bishop, B., (2020, March 6). Bronwyn Bishop COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories, [eVideo]. https://youtu.be/tPFOBIbvmSY

Is Google liable for presenting false or misleading facts?

Level 1Background

"Milorad ‘‘Michael’’ Trkulja has attempted to sue Google for defamation over claims the search engine’s results for his name could indicate he had ties to Melbourne’s criminal underworld. After being shot in the back in a St Albans restaurant in 2004, Mr Trkulja found Googling ‘‘Melbourne criminal underworld photos’’ showed pictures of him next to photos of underworld characters, and autocomplete searches of his name associated him with terms such as “is a former hit man”, “criminal” and “underworld”. Autocomplete typically pulls up examples of earlier searches." (Duke, 2018, Jun 14, p. 2)

Questions
  • Is Google the primary publisher or the secondary publisher, and is Google liable for misrepresenting Mr Trkulja?
  • What impact does Google metadata, and or the Google business model, have on whether Mr Trkulja's name appears to be associated with criminal figures? Does this imply Google is liable or negligent?
  • Do social media and search platforms have a responsibility to deliver the facts, and if so why, or why not?
Level 3Further Reading

Duke, J. (2018, June 14). Green light for libel suit over Google search [News]. The Age. p. 2. Retrieved from http://libraryedition.smedia.com.au/lib_a/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=AGE%2F2018%2F06%2F14&id=Ar00203&sk=F9EE7C5E

Rolph, D. (2017). The Ordinary, Reasonable Search Engine User and the Defamatory Capacity of Search Engine Results in Trkulja v Google Inc. Sydney Law Review, 39(4). Retrieved from http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/SydLRev/2017/24.html

Trkulja v Google Inc LLC & Anor (No 5) [2012] VSC 533 (12 November 2012) Retrieved from http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/vic/VSC/2012/533.html

Turner, R. (2014). Internet Defamation Law and Publication by Omission: A Multi-jurisdictional Analysis. University of New South Wales Law Journal, 37(1). Retrieved from http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/UNSWLJ/2014/2.html

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