Abstrakt
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has been a completely unprecedented situation in terms of the requirement to transfer knowledge to policymakers, stakeholders, the media and the general public across the world, with a high degree of inaccuracy and without proper context.
Objective: The paper aims to describe basic characteristics influencing a digital infodemic in the Czech Republic in relation to the COVID-19 epidemic and identify means for a systematic elimination of false or misleading information.
Methods: We combine the basic idea of infodemic management in a form of the information "cake" model and its four pillars into a pilot toolbox facing health misinformation in Czechia during the COVID-19 epidemic.
Results: We proposed a matrix that contains three crucial groups (expert associations and entities, official government tools and media) in relation to the particular pillar of the information "cake" model. The primary objective of this matrix is to identify how the comprehensive model of infodemic management is covered in the Czech Republic and where are its main issues and gaps. Some domains are only partially covered or not covered at all.
Conclusions: The Czech Republic lacks an institutionalized platform to support the fight against disinformation and erroneous interpretations. Systematic fact-checking is developed only by non- profit organizations with limited impact. An institutionalized platform under the government supervision is needed to support the systematic fight against misinformation and misinterpretation.