Plato´s sphere: shadow people and citizens in the COVID-19 hoax pandemic

Abstract

Hoaxes, health scams, false science, and post-truth have spread widely during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Net has become a huge sphere of telematically connected nodes, a great Sphere of Plato with individuals who live in a cavern of hoaxes and perceive the shadows as if they were the true reality. Analyze the influence of hoaxes, fake news and pseudotherapies on "shadow individuals" and promote the re-education of individuals until they become "citizens" with judgment. Analysis of the situation of dissemination of hoaxes and fake news in the field of Health; analysis of a health hoax; analysis of false scientific publications (baptized as predatory journals) and false scientists. Journalists and communicators in the field of health must resort to quality and accessible scientific sources to communicate authentic science and banish the pseudotherapies from "shadow individuals" so that they become "citizens" free of false beliefs.

Keywords

• coronavirus
• periodismo
• sanidad
• salud
• pseudociencias