The viral video ‘Plandemic’ illustrates many of the characteristics of conspiratorial thinking, from embracing contradictions to assuming nefarious intent. The conspiracy theory video “Plandemic” recently went viral . Despite being taken down by YouTube and Facebook, it continues to get uploaded and viewed millions of times . The video is an interview with conspiracy theorist Judy Mikovits, a disgraced former virology researcher who believes the COVID-19 pandemic is based on a vast deception, with the purpose of profiting from selling vaccinations. Read Full Story

Listening with empathy and respect is the best medicine for those who believe health misinformation. A few weeks ago, I took an uncomfortable trip down the rabbit hole of COVID-19 conspiracy theory videos. As a newly minted M.D. who will soon be taking care of patients at a safety-net hospital on the front lines of an ongoing pandemic, I was especially pained by what I saw. There was the infamous “Plandemic” video, which asserts that a cabal of elite individuals and organizations is using COVID-19 to cement power. There were also false claims that the new coronavirus was created with the backing of Bill Gates, for the purposes of diminishing our freedoms. Read Full Story

The images obtained by Nanographics will be useful for scientists to understand and combat the coronavirus in a more effective way.

Despite YouTube’s efforts to takedown misinformation related to coronavirus, a new crop of fake videos is making it through. The coronavirus has presented a new opportunity for a variety of hucksters , scammers , and conspiracy theorists . The latest wildly untruthful theory? That COVID-19 is caused by 5G. Read Full Story

The viral video uses similar tactics to QAnon to sew mistrust in an eventual vaccine—and in the U.S. government. YouTube and Facebook have now removed it from their platforms. A new conspiracy theory is making the rounds to cast doubt on an eventual COVID-19 vaccine and question the credibility of the U.S. government’s response. A viral video that details the false claims, called “Plandemic,” has been removed from both Facebook and YouTube after being shared widely. Read Full Story

Researchers who study social media examined misinformation about the pandemic on Sina Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter—and found little about Bill Gates, 5G, or ‘Plandemic.’ Conspiracy theories about COVID-19 have accompanied the pandemic from the beginning. Crucial to managing the pandemic is mitigating the effects of misinformation , which the World Health Organization dubbed an “infodemic.” Read Full Story

Meet Anika Chebrolu, of Frisco, Texas, who just won this year’s 3M Young Scientist Challenge. A COVID-19 cure is vexing scientists around the globe, but the latest idea to beat it comes not from Big Pharma or top-tier university labs. Read Full Story

As the ‘Plandemic’ COVID-19 hoax video gets a sequel, an activist group concludes that Facebook’s effort to combat misinformation doesn’t go far enough. Plandemic , the viral conspiracy-laden video that claims the COVID-19 outbreak was orchestrated by government officials and billionaires, is back—now in feature-length form. This second installment and its various promotion efforts have coincided with a new report from privacy watchdog group Avaaz that calls out Facebook’s efforts to combat health misinformation on its platform. Read Full Story

More than 20 million people saw a video filled with lies about COVID-19. Researchers still don’t know how this kind of viral misinformation is impacting people’s willingness to wear masks—or to get an eventual vaccine. On Monday night, Breitbart News launched a video of a press conference from a group of physicians called America’s Frontline Doctors, wherein several doctors repeated inaccurate claims about COVID-19, its treatments, and effects. The video reached over 20 million viewers on Facebook alone before being taken down Tuesday. The fast spread of this video and its false claims raises a big question about how much this kind of information affects people’s decisions to stay home, wear a mask, and ultimately, to get vaccinated when a COVID-19 vaccine is approved. Read Full Story

'These warnings will inform people that the information in the Tweet conflicts with public health experts' guidance before they view it,' the company says.