Coronavirus - Research by the Italian Intelligence Society on the Contagion of Institutional and Social Communication

Coronavirus - Research by the Italian Intelligence Society on the Contagion of Institutional and Social Communication

What causes panic in the population is not only the health dimension of the Coronavirus but also the immaterial dimension of the contagion that occurs through false news, misinformation, and inconsistency in the statements of the authorities.

The identification of the problem of a media infection is the first result of the search for the "immaterial pandemic". The effects of COVID-19 between "asymptomatic" social and institutional communication was conducted from February 1 to April 10, 2020 by Luigi Giungato, a researcher at the Italian Intelligence Society (SOCINT). The research is available at www.socint.org and was coordinated by the SOCINT President Mario Caligiuri, Director of the Intelligence Laboratory of the University of Calabria, who collaborated on the initiative.

By using trend analysis tools applied to the media, the study analyzed the media coverage of the "Coronavirus" phenomenon in our country, in order to identify both the intangible dimension of the contagion and its effects on public opinion. The result is an emergency and a psychosis suffered by the Italian population, unlike in other national communities where civil society has dictated the actions of the authorities, as in the cases observed in Great Britain, Spain, Switzerland, and Belgium. Thanks to Google Trends, Buzzsumo and Brand24, graphs have been developed on trends that interest the public and the information media about the term "Coronavirus". These data were then compared with those of other countries, noting that Italy played a leading role in the narrative of the global emergency and that the national perception was mainly determined by the decisions and statements of public institutions. Moreover, these statements, which are not always consistent with each other, have affected not only the perception of risk, but also the narrative of fear. Indeed, until the declaration of the state of emergency in Lombardy on 20 February, public attention relegated COVID-19 to the sidelines. Since then, the pandemic has become an integral part of the Italian collective agenda, also influencing the international agenda. However, the research also revealed that the first tendency of the Italian public was to underestimate the risk.

It was from the press conference on February 27 of the President of the Lombardy Region, Attilio Fontana, who presented himself with a mask, declaring that he wanted to submit to quarantine, that the declarations of the political and health authorities conveyed by the media have multiplied. Such statements powerfully conditioned the collective perception, to the point of provoking a communicative shock that considerably altered the narrative of the disease.

In other countries, on the contrary, civil society pressure, disseminated through social media, has been decisive in dictating media agendas and, as a result, the actions of governments, which, at first, were mostly sceptical.

Justin Trudeau Sings "Speaking Moistly"

MORE...

    The Gangster Head of the WHO
    How Has Cuba Faced the COVID-19 Epidemic?
    Bodies in the Streets: IMF Imposed Measures Have Left Ecuador Unable to Cope with Coronavirus
    Public Health, COVID-19 and Recovery

It was also observed that at a time when social distancing imposed by the authorities has made the population more dependent than ever on computers, smartphones and television, the perception of the reality that surrounds us is exclusively based on mass and interpersonal media, among which emerges the hardly measurable but highly influential role of WhatsApp, to which a large part of the research is devoted.

Indeed, in the virtual city where the majority of the population is forced to live, disinformation spreads with the same aggressiveness as the biological virus, through the collective sharing of fragmented and incoherent stories, most often false, and very often without the knowledge of those who transmit them. All this leads to the manifestation of a state of permanent anxiety, feeding a generalized panic that prevents a more serene evaluation of reality. These manipulative characteristics of the information society, used by all governments, determine, at the same time, the incentives for censorship and control. It is a challenge to democracy that generates fear and raises questions in order to make citizens aware of the risk of mass surveillance and to understand the mechanisms of media contagion. These issues are constantly monitored by the research that continues with the COVID-19 health infection, with the aim of helping to culturally combat the virus in order to safeguard citizens' rights to health and freedom.