【明報專訊】HUNDREDS of scientists from all over the world have been clustered in Geneva recently to discuss the novel coronavirus outbreak in a WHO forum. Both Gabriel Leung, a Hong Kong expert and attendee of the forum, and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus say that experts are fighting on two battlefronts concurrently, namely an epidemic and an infodemic (the flooding of both true and false information). WHO is working with a number of social media platforms around the world in the hope that more real information will circulate. However, the fight against the infodemic has proved to be even more arduous than the fight against the epidemic. Very often what is the most widespread on the internet are opinions that are shocking and propagate prejudice rather than messages from WHO or international experts. In some regions, the credibility of WHO has even been called into question by political conspiracy theorists. The threat of an epidemic can give expression to the bright side of human nature. But it can also expose the dark side of human nature. To prevent irrational responses and panic from spreading, we can only begin with science. An infodemic will only bring about confusion and division. It will hamper the global effort to fight against the epidemic. This is something Hong Kong society has to regard properly and be vigilant against.