How Indians Are Making A Difference In Wikipedia's Fight On Coronavirus Misinformation

India has seen a big rise in coronavirus cases over the last two weeks, leading to a three week national lockdown, increased travel restrictions, and a day-long ¡°Janta Curfew¡± this past Sunday.

These measures are indeed essential to stop the spread of the virus, but India and countries across the globe must also tackle another common epidemic: misinformation.

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In the last few weeks, as discussions of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, have dominated headlines, we¡¯ve also seen a worrying rise in inaccuracies, conspiracy theories and a general amplification of panic. I¡¯ve heard tales about self-diagnoses and advice to hold your breath for 20 seconds without coughing to see if you¡¯re exposed. Across platforms, information is being distributed about unverified scientific facts and alleged cures.

WHO: ¡°Massive infodemic¡±

Misinformation surrounding the virus is so prevalent, and so difficult to trace, that the World Health Organization (WHO) called it a ¡°massive infodemic.¡± To counter this, WHO launched a 24/7 ¡°myth-busting hotline¡± to monitor and address misinformation through its website and social media pages.

Reuters

Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia spanning 50 million articles across nearly 300 languages, can also help. In the 20 years since Wikipedia first began, volunteer editors of all backgrounds and beliefs have developed painstaking processes to fact-check and publish information. Wikipedia has even started an article in English dedicated to misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic, providing a comprehensive hub of knowledge about coronavirus with over 200 citations from verified external sources. In line with Wikipedia's collaborative model, this article has now been edited worldwide by more than 250 editors, each focused on adding new information, checking sources, and staving off the spread of misinformation.

On Wikipedia, citations - the list of links at the bottom of each article - are key to establishing an article¡¯s credibility and accuracy. Information on Wikipedia must be cited back to reliable, verifiable and neutral sources of information such as news articles, academic research or books. Information that does not meet that criteria is flagged and addressed by volunteers. For instance, many of Wikipedia's COVID-19 articles are under special protections that limit who can contribute to the articles. This is in an effort to reduce misinformation and poorly-sourced material from being added.

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Hour of Need in India: Verified information

In times of crisis, this drive for quality information has become even more essential. In India, which boasts the fifth highest number of views on Wikipedia globally - over 750 million pageviews in a month - Wikipedia is on the frontlines of the fight to combat misinformation. Wikipedia readers depend on the many edits the site receives in India, not just in English, but also in 22 other languages spoken across the country - a mammoth task undertaken by Wikipedia volunteers.

It is crucial for India to have a shared knowledge base about COVID-19, grounded in cited facts and linked back to accepted research. Quality information is vital for India¡¯s medical professionals and public officials to successfully drive the actions required to slow the spread of the virus. It¡¯s also a way for the general public to develop an understanding of the risks of COVID-19 and how they can protect themselves.

India¡¯s volunteer editors have created multiple articles like the Wikipedia article about the coronavirus pandemic in India, across multiple Indic languages, including Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and Kannada. The English Wikipedia article alone has been edited 1,400 times by more than 100 editors.

SWASTHA: Wikipedia¡¯s special public health program led by Indians

There¡¯s also a group of Wikipedians who are focused on translating medical and public health information into Indic languages. The Wikipedia project, aptly called SWASTHA (the Sanskrit word for health) ¡ª Special Wikipedia Awareness Scheme for The Healthcare Affiliates ¡ª is led by a group of volunteer editors in India that are developing partnerships with local universities to review medical content in local languages. The group already works with members of John Hopkins University and the National Health Authority, and is actively looking for more support.

SWASTHA is a branch of WikiProject Medicine, a group of volunteer editors with expertise in medicine and public health who collaborate to add and improve English Wikipedia¡¯s collection of around 35,000 articles on health and medicine topics. It has become a main source of information for hundreds of thousands across the globe.

Our current crisis is not just about public health - it¡¯s about information. Facts matter, now more than ever. Technology has always been an amplifier of human intention, and in these trying times, technology will enable us to come together, to work across borders and languages in service of humanity.

Wikipedia can serve as a model for how we can share what we know and help each other in ways previously unimaginable. Working together, Wikipedia can become an antidote for misinformation once and for all.

About the author: Toby Negrin is the Chief Product Officer for the Wikimedia Foundation, where he brings nearly 20 years of experience of integrating data, research and design to produce popular products that users love. Prior to Wikimedia, he was the Senior Director of Analytics at DeNA¡ªa Japanese publisher of video games¡ªand at Yahoo! where he worked on anti-abuse and content moderation policies, as well as Hadoop and cloud services. He also has worked in technical roles in Stockholm, Sweden, and Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Views expressed here are author's alone.