#ScienceUpFirst takes aim at COVID-19 conspiracy theories

Many Canadians are struggling to separate fact from fiction about COVID-19, so a new campaign, spearheaded by Professor Timothy Caulfied of the University of Alberta Faculty of Law and Senator Stan Kutcher of Nova Scotia, launches January 25 to counter the misinformation infodemic.

#ScienceUpFirst is a social media initiative that assembles an army of debunkers to fight COVID-19 misinformation on the front line — the internet. The campaign will create and amplify social media content that is from trusted sources and backed by scientific evidence.

The goal is to flood social media with truthful science content while disrupting misinformation.

The campaign is a collaboration between the Canadian Association of Science Centres, COVID-19 Resources Canada and the U of A Health Law Institute. Volunteer debunkers include scientists and science communicators, health professionals, and Canadians who want to see science prevail.

Planning for the campaign took off after Caulfield and Kutcher discussed the urgency of tackling misinformation.

Challenging Misinformation

“Misinformation is a dire, imminent threat to the lives of all Canadians and is proven to be one of the factors fueling COVID-19 infections, and dissuading Canadians from getting vaccinated,” said Caulfield. “The #ScienceUpFirst initiative seeks to help fill an urgent need to beat back misinformation with the truth, and save lives.”

Guided by Caulfield’s research on how to correct misinformation on social media, #ScienceUpFirst will draw attention to logic gaps used in misinformation, create accessible and dynamic content for a range of audiences and emphasize content that respectfully engages in tough conversations.

While the first phase of the campaign will counter misinformation surrounding COVID-19 vaccines, #ScienceUpFirst plans to eventually expand its focus beyond vaccines and track trending junk science in order to disrupt it with evidence-based content.

Canadians can get involved by following @scienceupfirst on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook; using the hashtag #ScienceUpFirst; tagging @scienceupfirst in COVID-19 science-based posts and misinformation posts; and visiting #ScienceUpFirst to sign up for a weekly newsletter.

Caulfield is a Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy, the Research Director of the Health Law Institute at U of A and has been at the forefront of debunking misinformation during the pandemic. In May 2020, he worked with MediaSmarts to launch the Check then Share campaign, which reminds Canadians to fact check information about COVID-19 before sharing it on social media.