Episode 31
Demystifying Conspiracies & Infodemics
This week, we are speaking to Samuel Olaniran and Dr. Stephanie Diepeveen, who have worked on the article, Demystifying the COVID-19 infodemic: Conspiracies, context and the agency of users,” which has just been published in Social Media & Society.
Samuel Olaniran is a PhD Candidate in the department of media studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, and has lectured at Plateau State University in Nigeria. His research focuses on digital dis/misinformation, social media and politics, computational propaganda and digital culture.
Dr. Stephanie Diepeveen is a Research Fellow at Open Data Institute ODI and a Research Associate at the University of Cambridge, where she also obtained a PhD in Politics and International Studies. Her work focuses on the social and political implications of the increasingly digital world.
Data images from the paper Demystifying the COVID-19 infodemic: Conspiracies, context and the agency of users.
Credits:
Figure 1: Community networks in South Africa (node colour indicates different communities and size indicates influence in the network)
Figure 2: Community Networks in Nigeria
Figure 4: Community Networks in Nigeria, highlighting only mentions of 5G
Figure 5: Community Networks in South Africa, highlighting only mentions of 5G
Figure 10: Interaction networks for Bill Gates conspiracy in South Africa
Figure 11: Interaction networks for Bill Gates conspiracy in Nigeria
All images by Kyle Findlay
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Host & Producer: Chipo Mapondera
Researcher: Deirbhile Ni Bhranain
Editor: Eliza Bacon
Sound Engineer: Fungai Nengare
Theme Music: Anna De Mutiis
Resources:
Read the article “Demystifying the COVID-19 infodemic: Conspiracies, context and the agency of users” in Social Media & Society.
Discover Superlinear, the project by co-author Kyle Findlay. This website investigates South African culture through data science.
PhD Researcher Craig Ryder was part of the Digital Methods Initiative Conspiratorial Hermeneutics via Words & Images. Discover the project on the DMI website.
Read the piece in The Conversation “Why we should not treat all conspiracy theories the same” by Jason Harambam who has done similar work in the Dutch context.
Learn more about infodemics in the Premium Times article Infodemia in the Time of Corona Virus by Samuel Olarinan.
Discover “How the 5G Conspiracy Theory Began” in the The Conversation article.
Read about the roots of the Bill Gates conspiracy on the African continent in The Times of India Article “Bill Gates Conspiracy Theories Echo Through Africa”.
Discover more about the role of WhatsApp in the spread of misinformation in Nigeria in the Quartz Africa article “With over 250,000 cases, misinformation is compromising Africa’s Covid-19 response” by Yomi Kazeem.