Infodemic: Indian textbook wars and Orban’s attacks on Hungary’s press
Welcome to the Infodemic. We are tracking how global disinformation is shaping the world emerging from the Covid-19 lockdown. Today, from Sicily to India, Coda's Gautama Mehta presents a few narratives — both real and fake — that have grabbed our attention and deserve yours.
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Thousands of Hungarians marched for press freedom in Budapest over the weekend, after the most widely read national news site suffered another blow to its independence. The gathering took place following the resignation of three-quarters of Index.hu’s reporters on Friday in protest against the firing of editor-in-chief Szabolcs Dull. They referred to his dismissal as “clear interference” from the government. This marks a near complete takeover of the nation’s media by Viktor Orban’s administration, which has used the coronavirus pandemic to further restrict independent voices. Index.hu’s reporting has regularly informed this newsletter. This latest chapter in its story represents a great loss for journalism in Central Europe.
Police on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa issued a statement Saturday, saying that 25 migrants had tested positive for Covid-19. But Mayor Toto Martello immediately refuted the claim as “fake news” and “media terrorism.” The people in question were given a second round of tests, which all came back negative.
A false claim that infrared thermometers pose health risks has been circulating on French social media. Posts supposedly quoting a warning by an unnamed Australian nurse that the contactless devices could damage the pineal gland were shared more than 5,800 times on Facebook, according to AFP. But medical experts assure that the thermometers, which have been widely used during the pandemic, do not expose people to infrared radiation. In fact, they measure infrared light emitted by the human body itself and display a temperature based on those readings.