Category: Misinformation, Disinformation, and Conspiracy Theories
Memes, Tweets, Snark Are the FDA’s New Public Health Weapons
(Bloomberg) FDA commissioner has made social media a key part of outreach. Agency aims to counter misinformation without amplifying it. When Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed during a National Football League game in January, dozens of Twitter trolls quickly blamed it on Covid-19 shots. “Snake-oil salesmen” seized on the event, said Food and Drug Administration Commissioner […]
Feb 14, 2023
What Socioeconomic Consequences Has COVID-19 Misinformation Had in Canada?
(MedScape) Health and science misinformation has had serious socioeconomic consequences in Canada, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from the Council of Canadian Academies. In 2021 alone, misinformation that promoted vaccine hesitancy resulted in higher numbers of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths — and approximately $300 million in additional healthcare costs.
Feb 7, 2023
How A ‘Thanks Pfizer’ Covid Misinformation Meme Went Viral
(Forbes) False claims that Covid-19 vaccines cause spasms have gone viral on social media, with many users — even language education company Duolingo — making an even more viral joke out of the misinformation. Anti-vaxxers are spreading videos on social media of people appearing to seize or spasm, falsely claiming these to be Covid-19 vaccine […]
Jan 31, 2023
Utah Plastic Surgeon Sold Fake Covid-19 Vaccine Cards for $50, U.S. Says
(NYT) Dr. Michael Kirk Moore and three of his associates were indicted this month in a scheme that federal prosecutors said lasted from May 2021 to September 2022. A Utah plastic surgeon and three associates were charged recently with selling fake Covid-19 vaccine cards for $50 apiece in a scheme that lasted more than a […]
Jan 24, 2023
Conspiracy Theories Prompt Top Finnish Health Authority to Quit Twitter
(Bloomberg) The rampant spread of conspiracy theories on Twitter has pushed Finland’s top health authority to stop using the platform to disseminate its public-health messages. A lack of proper tools on the social media site means the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare is unable to effectively weed out false and deliberately misleading information, as […]
Jan 17, 2023
Will Pharma Propagandist Peter Hotez Get Fauci’s Old Job at NIH?
(Twitter/PeterHotez) Prof. Peter Hotez responds to anti vaccine propaganda on Twitter
Jan 10, 2023
Vaccines are not making COVID strains like ‘Kraken’ stronger. Here’s how the four shots battle variants
(Fortune) Scientists are keen to shut down the idea that vaccines are making COVID strains “stronger” and that those who have had a booster are more susceptible to the disease. The World Health Organization has confirmed that XBB.1.5—dubbed “Kraken” by biology professor Ryan Gregory—is the most transmissible strain yet. The Centers for Disease Control and […]
Jan 10, 2023
The vaccine disinformation playbook
(NYT) The vaccine disinformation playbook includes the use of fake experts, logical fallacies, impossible expectations, cherry-picked data and conspiracy theories. Other logical fallacies include non sequiturs, posing the question while assuming the answer and failing to consider alternative hypotheses.
Jan 9, 2023
As Covid-19 Continues to Spread, So Does Misinformation About It
(NYT) Doctors are exasperated by the persistence of false and misleading claims about the virus. As Covid cases, hospitalizations and deaths rise in parts of the country, myths and misleading narratives continue to evolve and spread, exasperating overburdened doctors and evading content moderators. What began in 2020 as rumors that cast doubt on the existence or seriousness […]
Jan 3, 2023
Growing vaccine hesitancy fuels measles, chickenpox resurgence in U.S.
(Washington Post) A rapidly growing measles outbreak in Columbus, Ohio — largely involving unvaccinated children — is fueling concerns among health officials that more parent resistance to routine childhood immunizations will intensify aresurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases. Most of the 82 children infected so far are old enough to get the shots, but their parents chose not to […]
Dec 27, 2022