Modelling the Dynamics of Fake News Spreading Transmission During Covid-19 Through Social Media

On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019. The case fatality ratio for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) has been much lower than SARS of 2003, but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll. As of 20 May 2020, there are a total of 5,085,449 confirmed cases and 329,239 death cases in the world with more than 200 countries affected. Malaysia reported a total of 7,009 confirmed cases, 5,706 recoveries and 114 deaths. According to the Global Web Index (GWI), it can be seen that there is a significant increase in the usage of social media among global users for the past month, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. By going online, people can stay updated to the news more easily and information can be spread at a higher speed. However, it can also bring negative impact among the users when people misuse this platform to spread fake news, causing misconception, anxiety and fear as they become “viral”. The spread of fake news can lead to several misconceptions among social media users, which can cause unnecessary fear and anxiety. For example, when Movement Control Order (MCO) was first announced in Malaysia on 16 March 2020, fake news about the shortage of food supply spread through the social media within hours, and this had led to more people rushing to the supermarkets to stock up their groceries. This paper discussed the transmission of fake news to understand the rate of spreading. Therefore, the objectives of this paper are to propose a mathematical model that can describe the dynamics of the spread of fake news through social media along the period of MCO through different social media platforms. This study also suggests some measures that can be taken by different parties, such as individuals, society and government to solve the issue of fake news transmission.