News Item

Reddit Can’t Quarantine Coronavirus Misinformation | VICE

Information about the novel coronavirus and Covid-19, the disease it causes, comes from a kaleidoscope of sources: the World Health Organization runs a landing page that answers basic questions, President Trump has given a meandering press conference, and the U.S. Center for Disease Control is advising people on how to trim their beards.

Online, many turn to Reddit, the so-called “front page of the internet,” where a war is waging between its communities about who controls the flow of information.

Reddit has five communities dedicated to discussing the coronavirus. The r/COVID19 subreddit focuses on academic articles and scientific studies, r/Coronavirus is a place to share stories from reputable news sources, and r/COVID19_Support provides emotional support and resources for people afraid of the outbreak. Of the five, Reddit has quarantined only one of the communities, r/Wuhan_flu, saying “it may contain misinformation or hoax content.” Anyone can browse Reddit, but to view a quarantined community a user must create an account for the site and click through a warning message.

[…]

Source: Reddit Can’t Quarantine Coronavirus Misinformation | VICE