How to Detect Fakes During Global Unrest Using AI and Blockchain - InformationWeek

Counterfeiters have leveraged consumer fear and uncertainty created by coronavirus (COVID-19) to flood the market with fakes, misinformation and counterfeits, taking advantage of demand and panic buying for essential goods and services. As one example, social media bot accounts are causing life-threatening coronavirus misinformation to spread across the internet. The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and the Oxford Internet Institute recently released the results of a study that reviewed 225 pieces of COVID-19 misinformation rated false or misleading by fact-checkers. The research found that "false (COVID-19) information spread by politicians, celebrities, and other prominent public figures" accounted for 69% of total engagement on social media, even though their posts made up just 20% of the study's sample. Likewise, counterfeit N95 masks, test kits and ventilator parts have posed challenges for governments across the globe trying to keep their populations safe during COVID-19.