infodemicn.
/ˌɪnfə(ʊ)ˈdɛmɪk/, U.S. /ˌɪnfəˈdɛmɪk/, /ˌɪnfoʊˈdɛmɪk/ A proliferation of diverse, often unsubstantiated information relating to a crisis, controversy, or event, which disseminates rapidly and uncontrollably through news, online, and social media, and is regarded as intensifying public speculation or anxiety.Coined by David J. Rothkopf to describe the explosion of information (and misinformation) associated with the SARS epidemic of 2003 (cf. SARS n.).
ΚΠ
2003 D. J. Rothkopf in Washington Post 11 May b1/1 SARS, as is well-known, has taken a heavy toll with more than 7,100 reported victims worldwide... But the consequences of the related ‘epidemic’ have been more far-reaching... The information epidemic—or ‘infodemic’—has made the public health crisis harder to control and contain.
2010 Winnipeg Free Press 16 Oct. f3/1 The bed bug invasion moved from sidelined news item to massive media trend when bed bugs started to hit the middle and upper classes... But the bed bug infodemic really comes down to a very primal instinct.
2020 Christian Sci. Monitor (Nexis) 18 Mar. The director-general of the World Health Organization has called on governments, companies, and news outlets around the globe to tackle an ‘infodemic’ of fake news, which he characterized as being as dangerous as the coronavirus itself.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2020; most recently modified version published online June 2020).
<
n.2003