Draft

Fake news, problematic information,

and the novel coronavirus in Singapore
Please help me stop the rumours.
- Health Minister Gan Kim Yong, 14 February 2020.

Summary
We stumbled upon a 10,000-person group chat about the coronavirus in Singapore. As of 17
February, at least 50,000 messages have been sent in the group. In part one, we provide
context about what’s happening in Singapore and about problematic information in general.
In part two, we use examples from the group chat to illustrate different types of problematic
information. In part three, we discuss the tricky case of DORSCON orange. If you’re already
familiar with the situation in Singapore or fake news in general, you probably want to skip to
page 4.

This is a preliminary analysis of the novel coronavirus information ecosystem in Singapore.

We’ve likely made mistakes and would love to hear your feedback. We’re working on
quantitatively analysing the group chat data to figure out media types, topics, sentiment, and
more.

Summary 1

Background 2
The situation in Singapore 2
Fake news ⊆ problematic information 2
Problematic information is complex 3
Why group chats matter 4

Examples of different types of problematic information 5

Satire or parody 5
False connection 7
Misleading content 10
False context 11
Imposter content 13
Fabricated content 14

DORSCON orange 16

Useful resources 17
Background

The situation in Singapore

For non-Singaporean readers, here is some rough information. For official updates, refer to
the ​MOH website​.
● The first case was confirmed on 23 Jan 2020. As of 17 February at noon, 75 cases
had been confirmed.
● Several supermarkets have faced temporary shortages of basic items like instant
noodles and rice, especially from 7–10 February. Many government officials and
supermarkets have ​asked​ people to stop panic buying.
● It seems harder for regular people to buy masks. The government has made 4 masks
available to every household.
● The government, taxi companies, and ride hailing companies have launched a
S$77m support program for drivers.
● The Tourism Board ​says​ that tourism will take a “significant hit”. Countries including
South Korea, Israel, Kuwait, and Qatar have advised their citizens to avoid travelling
to Singapore.
● Many large-scale gatherings have been ​cancelled or seriously affected​, like the
Singapore airshow, the Singapore leg of LGPA’s golf tournament, and Catholic
masses.

Fake news ⊆ problematic information

For now, we suggest that fake news refers to content made to look like real news, which is
supposed to be a trusted source of information.1 News is one part of the bigger information
ecosystem, which includes other things like advertising, propaganda, science
communication, jokes, and regular ol’ people expressing themselves. The information
ecosystem faces problems of misinformation (accidental sharing of false information) and
disinformation (deliberate creation and sharing of false information). ​We tentatively use
“problematic information” as an umbrella label for mis- and disinformation.

1
As far as we know, there is no agreed-upon definition of fake news.
Claire Wardle (2017) suggests that there are seven types of problematic information. So far,
we’ve identified examples of all these types except for manipulated content.

Categories of Information Disorder. Claire Wardle, 2017.

Problematic information is complex

In Singapore, POFMA (the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act) targets
false statements of fact online. But problematic information is wider and complex.

The distinctions between problematic and unproblematic information, as well as between

different types of problematic information, are not crisp. A piece of content may belong in
more than one category; an article with an exaggerated headline (false connection) may also
contain misleading content. Within each category, there are stronger and weaker examples;
what is clearly a joke to one person may seem serious to another.

Problematic information is multi-dimensional. Wardle’s categories loosely sit on a scale that

measures intent to deceive. We tentatively suggest that other important and interrelated
dimensions include:
● Transmitter’s motivation. Common motivations include: helping others, wanting to be
seen as being “in the know”, profit, ideology, and others.
● Confidence of a message. Messages sit along a spectrum that roughly scales from
question (“is it true there are no masks?”) to speculation or personal opinion (“I heard
there are no masks”) to statements of fact (“Singapore has run out of masks!”).
● Virality of a message. Although we identify many examples of problematic
information, not all these examples have the same reach. A handful of messages are
circulated much more than the average message.
● Reception. Just because someone receives a message does not mean they will
believe it. It seems plausible that the most impactful and damaging information is not
totally false, but rather biased, partly accurate or misleading.
 ● Overall volume of messages. Many of the examples below seem silly and harmless
when considered alone. But a barrage of messages can overwhelm people or make
them more susceptible to availability bias. Attention is limited, and truthful messages
get drowned out.2

Why group chats matter

Most studies about the role of digital platforms in sharing information have focused on social
media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. In comparison, chat apps like WhatsApp and
Telegram are less studied. Chat groups seem like fertile ground for problematic information,
partly because they are more difficult to monitor. In 2018, for example, unfounded
allegations disseminated over WhatsApp fueled mob lynching in India.

2
Even though my rational mind knows that almost all the stuff on the groupchat is unverified, the
week-long onslaught of novel coronavirus information has worn me down. I feel more anxious and
paranoid than I did a week ago. Content moderators deserve more support!
Examples of different types of problematic
information

Satire or parody
No intention to cause harm but has potential to fool. Not all satire is problematic; it’s hard to
say precisely what counts as satire and what is ridiculous.
False connection
Headlines, visuals or captions don’t match the rest of the content. Clickbait often falls into
this bucket.

Actual news: one person who works at Resorts World Sentosa casino tested positive for the
virus.

Actual news: 3 people without recent travel history to China tested positive for the virus.
Here we see how problematic information intersects with other issues like racism and
religious discrimination.

“By the time you are reading this, the shortage has already begun. Six months of
non-perishable essential items like toilet paper, rice, instant noodles, canned food should be
stock up now – and this is only a safe estimate, considering that the 2003 SARS epidemic
lasted 8 months.”

This article goes beyond making statements of fact—it makes prescriptive claims about how
people should act. We’re unsure if the article counts as misleading content, false connection,
or full-on fabricated content. To be fair, supermarkets did face temporary shortages due to
panic buying. At the same time, encouraging more hoarding seems irresponsible and
harmful.
Misleading content
Misleading use of information to frame an issue or individual. These stories may be based
on true information, but certain facts have been twisted or sensationalised.

We assume that the message refers to ​this​ paper. The message is misleading because the
paper actually summarises 22 studies to find that other coronaviruses, like SARS and
MERS, can persist on surfaces for up to 9 days. The paper expects similar persistence for
the new coronavirus. The paper and ​others​ say that coronaviruses may die much quicker in
humid and warmer environments like Singapore’s, but this is omitted in the message.
False context
Authentic content that is shared with the wrong context. Expanding Wardle’s definition, we
include content that is shared without context.

A video of three children being placed in one body bag has been shared several times on
the group. We found a ​comment​ on reddit claiming that the video is from 2017. Others have
said that the children died in a charcoal fire. We remain uncertain.
We observed many people sharing videos of medical incidents in public places. The footage
is real, but the incidents may not have been related to the new coronavirus.
Imposter content
When genuine news sources are impersonated

On 7 February, a photoshopped tweet announcing school closure surfaced on various social

media channels. It was quickly debunked by Channel News Asia.
Fabricated content
Content that is predominantly false, designed to deceive or to do harm.

Fabricated content may be speculative and rumour-ish. Two examples below:

On 27 January, a facebook post claimed that Woodlands MRT station was shut down. On 28
January, the government responded: “This is not true. Woodlands MRT was not closed on
28 Jan 2020; it was fully operational”.

Profit is a common motivator for fabricated content. Several fraudulent websites and other
scams have appeared. Many are related to masks.
DORSCON orange
On 7 February at about 5.20pm, the country officially raised its DORSCON (Disease
Outbreak Response System Condition) level from yellow to orange.

However, rumours about this announcement were circulating on the group chat and other
social media channels since at least 10.30am.

Throughout the day, panic buying increased and many supermarkets ran out of essential
items.
These messages seem problematic, but we’re unsure how they fit into Wardle’s categories.
Before 5.20pm, these messages may have been considered misleading or false context. In
any case, even though they turned out to be accurate, they likely made people confused and
anxious, and exacerbated panic buying. One lesson here is that even true-ish information
can be harmful, especially if it is shared in a haphazard, speculative or untimely manner. If
these messages turned out to be accurate, who’s to say that other speculative claims aren’t
true too?

Useful resources
We leave you with this screenshot from the group chat.