INTRODUCTION

Fake news is false news deliberately disseminated to deceive, manipulate, mislead, discredit, or exalt an institution, group, or person, or obtaining some type of economic, ideological, or political benefit (García, 2019).

Related to the concept of fake news, and especially popularized in our country during the pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus (SARS-CoV-2), is the term hoax, which describes “all content that is intentionally false and of truthful appearance, conceived to deceive citizens, and publicly disseminated through any platform or social media” (Salaverría et al., 2020, p. 4).

Among the characteristics that define fake news items are their falsehood and intentionality (Bakir & Mcstay, 2018; Wardle, 2017); their ease of propagation (Vosoughi, Roy, & Aral, 2018); their persistence over time, since they continue to spread even when they have been denied; the fact of containing a high emotional charge, which awakens feelings and influences the reader's state of mind, often mobilizing them to action (Calvo, 2020); and their ability to multiply in situations of uncertainty and crisis, in which human beings feel the urgent need to seek and obtain information (Masip et al., 2020).

Fake news has now become a serious threat to democracy and freedom of expression (Bennett & Livingston, 2018), as the results of the latest Eurobarometer testify, according to which 83% of Europeans perceive fake news as a problem for democracy, in general (European Commission, 2018). Fake news misinforms and polarizes public opinion, affecting the proper democratic functioning of society and altering the coexistence of the country (Allcott & Gentzkow, 2017; Bakir & Mcstay, 2018).

In situations of crisis and uncertainty such as the current COVID-19 pandemic, fake news items often generate alarm and confusion, putting citizens' lives at risk, who take them for certain and even ignore information from proven and/or official sources. In this sense, the spread of fake news also constitutes a serious threat to official communication channels, especially those of public administrations (Bennett & Livingston, 2018).

OBJECTIVES

Starting from this situation and considering the multiple consequences and adverse effects of fake news, this work aims to expose different strategies and measures to prevent and combat the development and dissemination of fake news and hoaxes. With this objective, a critical analysis of criminalization as a possible strategy promoted by the Spanish Government to combat the production and uncontrolled dissemination of fake news and hoaxes about the coronavirus and the COVID-19 pandemic in our country is carried out.

In contrast to the criminalization strategy, we highlight the role of information literacy as a means of promoting critical thinking in the population to provide it with an effective instrument to verify the information it consumes. From this perspective and as a possible solution to the problem of the spread of false information, we present a series of measures and steps that make it easier for citizens to identify the false information that circulates on digital platforms and social networks, to prevent and, thus, combat its spread.

FAKE NEWS AND COVID-19

In recent years, we have witnessed a remarkable proliferation of hoaxes and false news related to health, wellness, and disease (Elsevier Connect, 2020). In this way, the current pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has become a real breeding ground for the proliferation of fake news and hoaxes, due to several factors.

In the first place, we highlight the human need to be informed in situations of crisis and uncertainty, in which emotional aspects prevail over rational ones. From this perspective, the great uncertainty and the strong emotional burden related to the health, economic, and social crisis that accompanies the COVID-19 pandemic, produces an accentuated need for information as a strategy to adapt and behave appropriately in the face of an unusual and unexpected situation (Montesi, 2020).

Another factor to consider is the absence of reliable official information about the disease and the irresponsible attitude of some authorities and politicians, who have often acted as mere propagators of disinformation (Pérez-Dasilva, Meso-Ayerdi, & Mendiguren-Galdospín, 2020). The role played by the media, which a large part of the public currently perceives as sensationalists and conditioned by their editorial line when reporting on the pandemic, has done little to improve the situation, thereby generating social alarm and the loss of citizens’ trust (Masip et al., 2020).

Finally, we point out that, during the confinement decreed by most countries to try to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus, social networks have become an essential source for information and, therefore, for disinformation (Ortega, 2020). After losing trust in politicians, the media, and authorities when it comes to obtaining reliable information about the virus and the disease it causes, a large part of the public has turned to social networks in search of that information that allows them to understand and adapt to the new situation.

In this context of misinformation conformed by the above circumstances, today we are witnessing what is called an “infodemic”, defined as an excess of information -some accurate and some not- that makes it difficult for people to find truthful and reliable sources when they need them (World Health Organization, 2020).

Such has been the proliferation of false news during the COVID-19 pandemic in our country, that the Ministry of the Interior published a report on March 17^th, 2020 in which more than 50 hoaxes and fake news were collected about the issue (Intelligence Center against Terrorism and Organized Crime, CITCO, 2020). Along the same lines, both nationally and internationally, several organizations and fact-checkers have drawn up extensive and detailed lists of fake news and hoaxes spread since the epidemic began in China. ¹

Most of these fake news and hoaxes seek to generate alarm and confusion among the population. This has been reflected in news that has spread false information about the contagion and death by COVID-19 of personalities and authorities, such as Pope Francis, the almost entire Royal Family, and several members of the Government, including President Pedro Sánchez or the former president Pablo Iglesias.

It is important to note that a large group of widespread hoaxes refer to the health management of the pandemic, and clinical and medical aspects such as contagion, prevention, or treatment of the disease (Bulo, 2021). The confusion that these fake news and hoaxes induce increases in the absence of truthful and verified official information and as some of them come from supposed professionals or experts in the field who spread their messages through social networks (Peña, Bermejo, & Zanni, 2021).

The hoaxes about ways of contagion and alleged measures to prevent contagion and treat the disease have been particularly widespread (Moreno-Castro, Vengut-Climent, Cano-Orón, & Mendoza-Poudereux, 2021; Sánchez-Duarte & Magallón, 2020). Regarding the ways of contagion, we cite “the coronavirus is not transmitted through the air”, “asymptomatic patients do not infect”, “beard and mustache increase contagion”, “Fernando Simón has said that it is best to become infected now because later there will not be enough hospital beds for everyone”, or that the World Health Organization (WHO) “has asked to avoid having unprotected sex with animals to avoid contagion” (Bulo, 2021).

On the other hand, and based on the fact that respiratory distress is one of the serious symptoms of the coronavirus, a hoax warned that "we can know if we are infected with coronavirus if we can hold our breath for more than ten seconds." Another hoax that spread and generalized in practically all the communities is that planes or helicopters were going to spray urban centers to prevent contagion.

Besides the above, other alleged measures disseminated to prevent the spread of coronavirus have been to have sex at least every two days, smoke, consume cocaine, smear the skin with sesame oil, ingest large amounts of water or rinse the throat with hot water and salt or vinegar, disinfect with baby wipes or wash hands with child urine. According to other hoaxes, the intake of products such as wine, coffee, vitamin C, or omega fatty acids would also prevent contagion.

Regarding face masks as a measure to prevent contagion, several false information pieces have been published about their ineffectiveness and possible adverse effects of their use, including hypoxia, neurodegenerative diseases, or the increased risk of suffering from cancer (Lorenzo, 2020).

There have also been numerous hoaxes about the treatment of the disease with alleged cures and remedies such as drinking hot water, drinking sodium chlorite, lemon, and bicarbonate, eating bananas, or exposing oneself to the light of ultraviolet lamps. In this line, the information that claimed that ibuprofen aggravated COVID-19 infections caused such controversy and confusion that the Ministry of Health had to officially deny it (Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products, 2020).

Finally, we can cite those hoaxes that are based on irrational and conspiracy beliefs and theories, for example about the origin of the virus. According to some of these hoaxes, the coronavirus was intentionally created as a biological weapon to reduce the world's population, mainly that of the elderly, and activated by 5G technology. The development of the vaccine has also been the subject of multiple hoaxes by supporters of conspiracy theories and anti-vaccines, including the alleged death of clinical trials’ volunteers, that the vaccine causes infertility, or "is made from cells of aborted fetuses" (Furlan, 2021).

From conspiracy theories, it has even been possible to deny the existence of the virus and the pandemic and reject preventive measures such as the use of face masks, social distancing, and getting the vaccine. Consequently, the numerous damages and negative effects generated by fake news and hoaxes, both in the democratic coexistence of society and the physical and psychological health of its citizens, lead to the need to identify, combat, and neutralize them.

Among the measures proposed to fight against the spread of fake news and hoaxes on the internet and social networks, we can mention: a) promote truthful and quality journalism available to all; b) modify the algorithms of internet search engines; c) strengthen fact-checkers; d) monitor and block certain web portals, profiles, and accounts on social networks; e) penalize the dissemination of false news constituting crimes; and f) inform and train citizens so that they learn to distinguish between true and false information.

THE CRIMINALIZATION APPROACH

In managing the COVID-19 crisis, the Spanish government seems to have opted for the route of monitoring and controlling social networks to detect and report fake news, as well as for the promotion of its possible criminalization, both measures that have caused great controversy. From this perspective, the need to establish greater and more severe control mechanisms against fake news, and even new legislation to fight against disinformation, has been defended (Maldonado, 2020).

Thus, on April 6^th, 2020, during a press conference held at the Palacio de La Moncloa, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska pointed out that “we are monitoring social networks and all those hoaxes and fake news that may have criminal content, and we inform the prosecutor or judicial authority” (Pool Moncloa / Villar y del Monte, 2020).

A few days later and at the request of the Government, the State Attorney General, Dolores Delgado, ordered the Attorney General's Office to prepare a report on the impact of fake news items on public opinion and their possible fit as new crimes or crimes associated with others already existing in the current Criminal Code. This measure was due to an attempt by the Government to put an end to the fake news stories spread by VOX since "some experts" considered that those responsible for the propaganda apparatus of this party could be committing a kind of "new crime of informative terrorism, sabotage, or creation of social alarm” (Antequera, 2020).

According to the subsequent study carried out by the Technical Secretariat of the State Attorney General's Office, depending on their form, dissemination, and significance, fake news and hoaxes disseminated during the coronavirus crisis could incur up to a dozen criminal offenses, including those of hatred, discovery and disclosure of secrets, crime against moral integrity, public disorder, insults and slander, crimes against public health (Garea, 2020).

But the controversy jumped to the media on April 19^th, 2020, when the then Chief of Staff of the Civil Guard, General José Manuel Santiago, declared during the press conference of the monitoring committee of the coronavirus crisis that the armed institute worked in the fight against hoaxes disseminated through social networks, to minimize “the climate contrary” to the Government for its management against the crisis (Terradillos, 2020).

As a result of the controversy raised by General Santiago's statements, on April 21^st, the then Minister of Education and Vocational Training, María Isabel Celaá, declared that the Government should "protect citizens from false messages" and that it could not accept " negative messages, ultimately fake messages” that went against scientific criteria and “the integrity of public institutions” (Española, 2020).

However, the possible criminalization of fake news and hoaxes raises numerous problems related to conceptual, legal, and ethical aspects.

First, the absence of a precise and consensual definition of fake news (Tandoc, Lim, & Ling, 2018), which is related to the need to distinguish between the intentional dissemination of false information knowing that it is (disinformation) and the spreading of false or erroneous information involuntarily or unconsciously, due to unawareness, ignorance, or a simple desire to gain popularity (misinformation) (Bakir & Mcstay, 2018; Wardle, 2017). The lack of a precise definition of fake news often makes it difficult to identify these items with certainty and prevents governments from legislating against disinformation (Encabo, 2020).

Related to the above, the lack of neutrality of the fact-checkers in charge of deciding what is and what is not fake news in our country, fundamentally Maldita.es and Newtral, has been pointed out, due to their lack of impartiality and ideological neutrality (Encabo, 2020; González, 2019; Rodríguez, 2020).

On the other hand, from a legal point of view, the dissemination of fake news seems to have a priori a complicated fit in the current Criminal Code, since as the State Attorney General, Dolores Delgado, finally recognized, the preparation and/or dissemination of fake news and hoaxes is not, in itself, a crime (Urreiztieta, 2020). The dissemination of fake news and hoaxes could only be criminalized if they are used as a means to commit certain crimes, such as insults and slander or to promote hatred, hostility, discrimination, or violence towards certain groups due to their members belonging to an ethnic group, race, or nation (article 510 CC).

Prohibiting the dissemination of fake news could also represent an attack on the fundamental rights contained in the Spanish Constitution since it would limit the right to freedom of expression and truthful information (Mejías & López, 2020), granting the Government the power to control the information that society receives based on its own ideological interests (Encabo, 2020).

Finally, and from an ethical and moral point of view, the Government would hardly be legitimized to promote the criminalization of fake news and hoaxes when President Pedro Sánchez himself has been singled out, on several occasions, for having spread news and information classified as false during the pandemic by various media outlets and by the fact-checkers Maldita.es and Newtral ( ; CNN, 2020) (Dato, 2020; Larraz, 2020; Mclean & Maestro, 2020; Trillo, 2020).

Source: https://www.newtral.es/sanchez-espana-es-de-los-paises-del-mundo-que-mas-test-realiza-a-su-poblacion/20200425/

Source: https://twitter.com/cnn/status/1259336128634720256

FAKE NEWS AND COVID-19 AGAINST FAKE NEWS, INFORMATION LITERACY, AND CRITICAL SPIRIT

Regardless of the monitoring and criminalization of the dissemination of certain false news and hoaxes that could contain criminal content or intent, their prevention and control involve making citizens aware of the importance of avoiding being victims of manipulation and not participating in these channels of disinformation (Encabo, 2020).

Whether due to a lack of critical thinking or a childish and naive attitude, many people become "necessary collaborators" in the propagation of malicious messages that provoke hatred, fear, confusion, and lack of solidarity. In this sense, citizens must be aware that they should not share information whose veracity has not been verified, and that they should always demand verified and authentic news since only truthful information guarantees their freedom (Calvo, 2020).

The most effective measure to identify and combat fake news is to train critical, well-trained and informed news consumers (Parra-Valero & Oliveira, 2018). This is achieved, fundamentally, through the so-called information literacy, defined as “the ability to think critically and make balanced judgments about any information that we find and use” (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, CILIP, 2018, p. 3).

Information literacy's main objectives are to boost critical thinking among readers and encourage them to consume information from various sources so that they can distinguish sources of reliable information from those that are not (Finley, Mcgowan, & Kluever, 2017), as well as fight against their own ideological biases (Aparici, García-Marín, & Rincón-Manzano, 2019). Therefore, critical thinking is a necessary skill to detect and combat fake news (International Federation of Libraries Association, IFLA, 2021; ) (Montesi, 2020).

CONCLUSIONS

The production and dissemination of fake news and hoaxes is a communicative process that acquires great importance in situations of crisis and uncertainty. Fake news and hoaxes pose a threat to the democracy of countries and the coexistence and health of their citizens. Furthermore, in times of health crisis such as the current COVID-19 pandemic, the intentional dissemination of false information creates confusion and alarm, spreads fear, and contributes to the politicization and polarization of society.

It is in times of uncertainty and crisis like the current one when citizens need up-to-date, immediate, and, above all, truthful and accurate information. This requires the adoption of various measures to combat the production and dissemination of false news, including promoting quality journalism; enhancing fact-checking mechanisms; monitor and, if necessary, block certain web portals, profiles, and accounts on social networks; and criminalize certain conducts that may constitute criminal offenses.

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying health and information crisis, the Spanish Government has raised the possibility of criminalizing the production and dissemination of fake news and hoaxes, either by creating new criminal offenses that include the so-called informative terrorism, or by including these behaviors in criminal offenses currently included in the Criminal Code, such as crimes of incitement to hatred, insults, or slander. However, the possible criminalization of fake news and hoaxes entails numerous problems that are difficult to solve and that include formal, ethical, moral, and legal issues.

In any case, preventing and combating disinformation during the current pandemic involves promoting information literacy and information hygiene in society, so that citizens are aware of the risks posed by fake news and hoaxes and learn to use strategies and tools to identify them and prevent their uncontrolled spread.

Information literacy implies promoting greater knowledge among the population of fake news and hoaxes, their characteristics, their production and dissemination mechanisms, and, above all, their consequences for society. In this sense, and as pointed out by various authors (Costa-Sánchez and López-García, 2020; ) (Salaverría et al., 2020) we highlight the need to promote research on the subject and to transfer and transmit the results to the population.

As a strategy, information literacy requires the media to have an active role, which must become quality informational references for citizens, abandoning the ideological biases that largely characterize their editorial lines for the sake of greater objectivity and political neutrality.

Information literacy aims to teach citizens to act in a reflective, critical, and responsible way, so that they verify the veracity of the information they receive before sharing or disseminating it. This will enable the implementation of informative and communicative mechanisms and channels that facilitate the verification of news by creating, for example, lists and virtual communities of users and readers on social networks. In this way, and in an exercise of shared responsibility, citizens will be able to verify the veracity of the information they receive and, if it is not true, alert the person who sent it of its falsehood (Nobbot, 2020).

Therefore, information literacy stands as one of the main tools to fight against the misinformation that causes fakes news and hoaxes. Let us not forget that there is no greater enemy to disinformation than well-trained and informed citizens.

REFERENCES

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