Misinformation about the Coronavirus Pandemic is rampant- Spheron (previously ArgoApp) would’ve stopped the speculations

5 min readJun 9, 2021

The onset of the Coronavirus was a tremendously devastating pandemic that has wreaked havoc and tragedy for millions of lives globally. Besides the actual virus, the constant and intense conspiracy theories circulating virally have caused almost as much damage as the pandemic itself. The incessant misinformation about the origins of the virus and possible perpetrators has led to a dangerous mix of propaganda and disinformation, taken as gospel by large parts of our population. The finger-pointing accusations on the coronavirus origins between China and the US have caused many theories- some of these theories have more credence than others.

However, with the continual emergence of blockchain technology and its inherent decentralized fabric, the origins and subsequent tracking of the virus and other dangerous pathogens would’ve been excellently achieved by blockchain and, more specifically, Spheron (previously ArgoApp).

Conspiracy theories and misinformation about the Coronavirus

At the end of 2019, it was assumed that the virus emanated from a wet market in Wuhan, China. This was where the first case of Coronavirus was reported. However, with the spread of the virus across the globe, public health labs in Wuhan started a careful examination. After a long-time investigation with bat viruses, the two labs helped the scientists identify the origin of Coronavirus, which they concluded had originated from the nocturnal mammal.

As the Coronavirus continued to spread, societies were also exposed to conspiracy theories and misinformation about the situation.

On May 29th, 2020, data was gathered showing samples of over ten thousand adult respondents. According to the results, traditional media such as newspapers, radio, and televisions spread lower conspiracy theories and misinformation. At the same time, exposure to digital media and personal contacts are involved with more outstanding misinformation and conspiracy beliefs. There is thousands of misleading information about the virus for personal gain. For example, a prankster designed a screenshot of a fake text from the government claiming the recipient was fined for getting out of the house frequently. This prankster aimed to scare people to avoid breaking lockdown rules and to gain more followers on his social media channels.

Difficulties in separating fact from fiction

With all information received from different sources and social media channels, keeping up with the current information about the Coronavirus can be difficult. Therefore, it is not easy to determine between fact and fiction. Almost 50% of Americans confess the difficulties in knowing what is true and false about the pandemic. Most of the respondents strongly believe that over 48% of current news about the pandemic is made up. Some other people complain about hearing things about the virus that seem accurate but realize later that everything was not right. The confusion indeed stems from the truth that Coronavirus can be a new disease. Such information has caused social disorder and division, causing changes in public health response.

However, some information about the pandemic contains a mix of false and accurate news. This makes everything difficult when determining the truth from the info provided daily. Other people are confused since the incorrect information is from a doctor friend or a nurse. Some people do not intend to spread false information but might have posted the content without fact-checking the validity of the news.

Importance of data based on decentralized and blockchain architecture

Because the increase of misinformation during the coronavirus outbreak has caused panic and irrational habits to the public, creating a blockchain-based architecture system is critical. The system’s primary role is to ensure that the people and the government agencies receive trustworthy news about the Coronavirus, review various blockchain applications and opportunities, and design a tracking system to evaluate the blockchains-based system. Note that the data presented on the internet might not be 100% accurate. Hence, introducing technologies such as machine learning, deep learning, and blockchain can help reduce the percentage of misinformation received. Blockchain technology can transform companies like healthcare organizations. Its decentralized nature includes features such as transparency and inaccessible information infrastructure. The blockchain can act tamper-proof because of the underlying cryptographic quality. Therefore, introducing such technology can prevent or stop misinformation and conspiracy theories about the Coronavirus.

Spheron’s (previously ArgoApp) technology and values provide the ideal platform

While the pandemic has now caused irreparable damage to large parts of society, the question remains- how could this have been prevented, and how can the misinformation associated with Covid-19 be significantly reduced? While it is difficult to ascertain an absolute answer for the prevention of the virus, our Spheron (previously ArgoApp) platform could’ve played a significant part in monitoring the early outbreak of the virus, and more crucially, allowed for vital information to be received in attempting to minimize further movement and possible damage caused by the Coronavirus.

Spheron (previously ArgoApp) is built on top of a Decentralized Cloud Protocol; this means that all content stored on the cloud is time-stamped and tamper-proof. These two aspects are of immeasurable importance when trying to locate the source of the virus. If the platform were already implemented by officials in health labs globally, once the data has been input onto the Spheron (previously ArgoApp) cloud, that data would’ve never been edited or changed in any way. It would represent undeniable proof and evidence for the origins and movement of the virus.

This fundamental architecture is vital because every web page associated with the Decentralized Cloud Protocol has its own identity at a specific point in time. This relates to the ability to combat the coronavirus conspiracies because all records of facts can be traced through the Spheron (previously ArgoApp) network to the identity of the person/organization that initially inputs those facts. In other words, in a scenario of false accusations and scaremongering, the content stored on the DNS is the judge, jury, and final arbitrage. If a health lab associated with a specific country first shared content on their servers using the ArGoApp platform of possible COVID-19 related cases or data, then that would then remain tamper-proof and viewable by other parties who seek assurance if counterclaims and misinformation became prevalent.

What Spheron (previously ArgoApp) does

Spheron (previously ArgoApp) makes front-end web deployment easy, effective, and efficient through its blockchain-based platform that takes your web app to the DSNs (Decentralized Storage Networks). Spheron (previously ArgoApp) removes the hurdles of centralization and censorship through blockchain, ensuring that your web app is permanently deployed and experiences 100% uptime throughout its life.

$ARGO ERC20 Contract Address:

https://etherscan.io/token/0x28cca76f6e8ec81e4550ecd761f899110b060e97

Spheron (previously ArgoApp) CoinMarketCap Link:

https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/argoapp/ico/

Spheron (previously ArgoApp) DEX Tools:

https://www.dextools.io/app/uniswap/pair-explorer/0xd5fc1a6f75cd465c46e2f15f74b9ac0016b18386

Spheron (previously ArgoApp) CoinGecko Link:

https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/argo

Spheron (previously ArgoApp) Tokenomics Link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1R2RURGtsJcp0fK4elikgyeiEQwlShy5aiW75JOzmRsA/edit#gid=1913920126

You can find $ARGO tokens only on:

DFYN: https://info.dfyn.network/pair/0x643a31689bac403cf5854722e418d3949dc62976

Uniswap: https://v2.info.uniswap.org/pair/0xd5fc1a6f75cd465c46e2f15f74b9ac0016b18386