“During this pandemic we have witnessed an uncontrolled infodemic and a dissemination of information that is not always verified and verifiable. This is also because at the base there is a completely different information context than in the past. Today we have a circular communication, where incorrect information and unjustified alarms are also shared. There is therefore the risk of an alteration in the decision-making process of the individual and of the community, but also of the institutions “. Pasquale Marchione, Healthcare Professional Manager of the Italian Medicines Agency Aifa, in his speech at the conference ‘Effects of disinformation, from conflicts to everyday life’, organized by the International University for Peace in Rome, in partnership with the Web Press Media Reporter Association.
“This can generate an emergency of false hope and a false sense of insecurity and even security. But the general public and health professionals – remarked Marchione – need to know what we know and in this process we need to communicate uncertainty and promote knowledge “. According to the expert, science and pseudoscience” cannot communicate with each other. because they start from different assumptions and objectives, comparison is not pluralism of information. Even individual opinions – he concluded – must have a principle of authority. The content of these reflections always needs to be supported and verified “.