Travis Noakes

A major concern is that this agenda lacks earnest discussion on where health authorities’ own choices and guidelines contribute to ‘misinformation’, ‘disinformation’ and even ‘malinformation’.  Rushed guidance based on weak evidence from international health organisations can perpetuate rather than ameliorate negative health and other societal outcomes. Furthermore, if health authorities’ choices are not up for review, there is a danger that a hidden goal of WHO’s infodemic research (or related disinfodemic funders’ infodemiology research), could be to direct attention away from the multiple failures of authorities in fighting pandemics with inappropriate measures.

… Within the three divisions of knowledge labour listed above, we identify key inter-group contradictions between the interests of agencies and their contrasting goals. It is useful to consider such conflicts in relation to potential gaps in WHO’s infodemic research agenda