The Infodemic

What caused the Covid-19 pandemic, a natural spillover event or an accident in a Wuhan laboratory? Were the mitigation measures imposed by many governments - such as lockdowns and mask-wearing mandates - based on scientific evidence, or rather aimed at curtailing civil liberties and disrupting economic activities, under the secret maneuvering of a global cabal of politicians and financiers? And were Covid-19 vaccines effective in curbing the spread of the disease, or were they just a profitable scheme by big pharmaceutical companies?
These questions and speculations, some legitimate, some dubious, have been swirling around the globe through social media, alternative information outlets, instant messaging apps, and mainstream media since the beginning of the pandemic, feeding the 'infodemic' - an overwhelming surge of information, misinformation, rumours and conspiracy theories which continue to linger in public and private discourse.
With an original take on concepts and theories drawn from post-truth and disinformation studies, the book analyses the 'infodemic' through a series of global case studies. Framing the infodemic as a complex, multi-layered phenomenon with vast geopolitical implications, Gabriele Cosentino reveals the global competition for control in twenty-first century geopolitics between Western liberal democracies and non-Western autocracies, and above all between the United States and China.

Gabriele Cosentino is Assistant Professor in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at The American University in Cairo, Egypt.

Introduction: Where did it all begin?
1. The Infodemic
2. Wet Market or Lab Leak? Controversies on the Origin of COVID-19
3. Democratic chaos: QAnon and the COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories
4. You Can't Arrest a Virus: How Autocrats Exploited the Pandemic
Conclusion: How will it end?
Bibliography
Index