Federal government denounces “infodemic” on social networks

Looking in the dictionary, the word “infodemic” is defined as an excessive amount of information concerning a problem such that the solution is made more difficult.

But Mexico’s federal government defines ‘infodemic’ as the spread of false news on social networks, specifically WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.

“The most delicate infodemic is the one that occurs through WhatsApp,” said the president of the Public Broadcasting System of the Mexican State Jenaro Villamil.

According to the official, the big business at this time and in these months of confinement is the algorithm and the collection of personal data. He explained that platforms such as Facebook and Google have obtained up to 6,000 million dollars using “infodemic”.

“Facebook alone earned close to $ 5 billion USD in the first quarter of this year. The ‘infodemic’ is a transnational phenomenon, ”he assured.

“There is a dissemination of false versions and even altered versions of videos that are ‘tricked’ to give a true version of what is said, with a high rate of transmission and proliferation,” Villamil described.

He exhorted the population to cut “the chains of transmission of false news, either these are audios, videos or texts shared by friends or family members.”