64th ISI World Statistics Congress - Ottawa, Canada

64th ISI World Statistics Congress - Ottawa, Canada

Official Statistics (and other tools) in the fight against COVID-19 disinformation

Conference

64th ISI World Statistics Congress - Ottawa, Canada

Format: IPS Abstract

Keywords: pandemic

Session: IPS 249 - The role of official statistics in the fight against disinformation.

Monday 17 July 4 p.m. - 5:25 p.m. (Canada/Eastern)

Abstract

Charles Dickens novel A Tale of two Cities opens with the immortal line ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…’ Although written in 1859, the comparisons drawn in these opening lines seem extraordinarily apropos the situation official statistics find themselves today. Never has the worth of official data and statistics enjoyed such a dichotomous existence. Statistics have never been more recognized as a critically important tool for supporting decision making and providing public accountability, and yet simultaneously statistics have never been so irrelevant to public discourse. Today, in the midst of a data deluge, official statistics are competing with myriad informational sources, all claiming to be authoritative. It seems Huxley’s prophesy that truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance hit the nail on the head. This discussion will investigate this dichotomy through the lens of Covid-19 misinformation and disinformation.