Digital media, society and COVID-19 in UK and India: discourses and recommendations

With the coronavirus pandemic preventing various print media in reaching communities, social media platforms have become a global breeding ground for an information wave, both authentic and fake news creating panic and social tranquillity. Many methods of sharing information have been incorporated by these platforms that reach the audience at incredible speed. More than 2.9 billion individuals use social media regularly, and many for long stretches of time. Over the past two months, a wave of fake news has clouded authentic information from reaching the community as these can be influential enough to impact the thought and behaviour patterns of the individuals at large. A global public health crisis leads to uncertainty, which in turn leads to increased sharing of information. Consequences of this are usually evaluated by observing the intended change in cognition and behaviour of the individuals that they are aimed at.

There is an urgent need to create the digitally literate community globally in health communication, and social media can lead the way. The integration of social media in health literacy program content is very important. Various steps have been taken by the Governments of India and the United Kingdom asking social platforms to start awareness campaigns, prevent misinformation and promote authenticity on the outbreak by initiating advisories. It would be worthwhile to explore from the socio-cultural perspective, how people from both countries have used digital technology in adopting appropriate health measures. The chapter explores the dissemination of COVID-19 information on the digital public sphere in both the countries understanding its role in influencing the public response to the outbreak. It delivers an outlook on the integration of social media as an essential tool for preparedness, response, and recovery in relation to COVID-19; that can be translated and applied in future health-related crisis situations.