​UA Little Rock’s Nitin Agarwal: Flattening the Misinformation Curve — the internet, the virus and digital forensics

Americans may not remember where they were the first time they heard “flattening the curve,” but they’ll forever remember the reason — COVID-19. There’s an information curve that follows this epidemiological one like a shadow. It’s less predictable, but treatable, and University of Arkansas Little Rock Prof. Nitin Agarwal and his students are experts.

Agarwal, the Jerry L. Maulden-Entergy endowed chair and a professor of information science at the university, has partnered with the Office of the Arkansas Attorney General. He and his team of about 30 students — from undergraduates to postdocs — are charged with identifying and tracking coronavirus-related scam websites and social media disinformation that’s spreading alongside the pandemic.

“There’s factual information and nonfactual information, but when it comes to misinformation, sometimes what is presented is half true, or half facts” Dr. Agarwal

One well-traveled theory is that cellular 5G wireless technology is spreading coronavirus, Agarwal says. This is completely untrue. Another theory is that the United States grew the virus and unleashed it in China in order to sink that country’s economy and destabilize society.

There is no evidence the U.S. grew the virus and considerable evidence shows the coronavirus evolved naturally in a native Chinese animal population, but “coronavirus has stopped China’s economy and society. That is true.”

The most viral misinformation puts pieces of truth together to present a distorted picture. It’s more nimble than a falsehood, and it’s why Agarwal says there’s a health pandemic and a concurrent misinfodemic. This is what he and his students at the Collaboratorium for Social Media and Online Behavioral Studies (COSMOS) continue to monitor and quantify throughout the crisis.

Read the full story from UA Little Rock here.