Covid-19: What are the Drivers of the Islamophobic Infodemic Communications on social media

对于社交媒体网站上的阴谋论和错误沟通是如何被用来制造新冠肺炎“信息人”的，人们之间存在直接的差距。在穆斯林社区的背景下，这一点尤其相关，因为极右翼成员能够利用非理性信仰和假新闻意识形态来兜售仇恨，这样的叙事很快就能够渗透到主流并变得正常化。例如，英国国防联盟前领导人汤米·罗宾逊在社交媒体网站Telegram上分享的一段视频声称，视频显示一群穆斯林男子离开伯明翰的一座秘密清真寺祈祷。西米德兰兹郡警方揭穿了这段视频是假的，因为清真寺已经关闭。许多类似的例子表明，假新闻造成的恐惧日益紧张，以及对这类信息的影响，这有可能疏远社区，并可能在人们变得更加与世隔绝的情况下产生真正重大的线下影响。了解这种交流的驱动因素对于确保一个更有效和更可信的媒体来源至关重要，在这种来源中，复杂的信息可以用来帮助政策制定者和更广泛的公众。这项研究将通过我们丰富的经验数据来解决这一差距，这些数据可以用来强调执法部门在面对在线阴谋论和线下攻击时应该做些什么。这类信息的性质是，它可以迅速传播，我们的项目将解决这一问题的驱动因素和涉及的肇事者，这对社交媒体公司、警方、政策制定者和其他关键利益攸关方将具有重要意义。取消社交疏远措施后，新冠肺炎上当前充斥着阴谋论和种族主义信息误会的氛围可能会产生严重后果。由于社交媒体的性质，以及收集的社交媒体评论和行为的范围，该项目将能够在我们确定触发事件时专注于国家问题。社交媒体评论提供的细节，包括在某些情况下的地点(明确地在社交媒体评论、用户档案或评论元数据中)，将允许将重点放在与英国或整个国家的某些地区。这可能有助于跟踪和响应与新冠肺炎、极端内容和沟通错误相关的本地化问题。

There is a direct gap in understanding how conspiracy theories and miscommunication on social media sites is being used to create a Covid-19 'infodemic'. This is particularly relevant in the context of Muslim communities as members of the far-right are able to use irrational beliefs and fake news ideology to peddle hate, with such narratives quickly being able to penetrate the mainstream and become normalised. For example, one video shared on the social media site Telegram by the former leader of the English Defence League, Tommy Robinson, alleges to show a group of Muslim men leaving a secret mosque in Birmingham to pray. West Midlands Police debunked this video as being fake as the Mosque had already been closed down. A number of similar examples show the rising tension of fear fake news creates and the implications for such information which risks alienating communities and can have a real significant offline effect where people become more insular. Understanding the drivers of such communication is critical to ensuring a more effective and trustworthy media source where complex information, can be used to aid policy-makers and the wider general public. This study will address this gap through our rich empirical data that can be used to highlight what law enforcement should do when confronting online conspiracy theories and offline attacks. The nature of such information is that it can spread quickly and our project will address the drivers of this and the perpetrators involved which will be significant for social media companies, the police, policy-makers and other key stakeholders. The current climate of conspiracy theories and racist 'infodemic' miscommunication on Covid-19 can have significant consequences when social distancing measures are lifted. Due to the nature of social media, and the range of social media comments and behaviour gathered, this project will be able to focus on national issues as we identify trigger events. The detail provided by the social media comments, including in some cases location (either explicitly in the social media comment, user profile, or comment meta-data), will allow for there to be a focus on certain regions with the UK, or countries as a whole. This may facilitate the tracking of and response to localised issues linked to Covid-19, extreme content and miscommunication.