Coronavirus conspiracy theories continue to spread on Facebook and other social networks.
Image by Pixabay/Illustration by CNET
Facebook, YouTube and other social networks are struggling to remove a viral video that includes various conspiracy theories about the coronavirus pandemic, highlighting the challenges that come with moderating content online.
The nearly 26-minute video is part of a series of clips being released ahead of a documentary called Plandemic that the filmmakers say “will expose the scientific and political elite who run the scam that is our global health system.” The video features Judy Mikovits, a controversial former medical researcher who repeats conspiracy theories about the coronavirus pandemic, including the idea wearing a mask could make you sick because it could expose you to your own “reactivated coronavirus expressions.” Mikovits’ comments conflict with advice from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which says everyone should wear a face cover to protect others in case you’re infected with the virus that causes COVID-19.
“Suggesting that wearing a mask can make you sick could lead to imminent harm, so we’re removing the video,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement.
Mikovits, a vocal critic of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading expert on infectious diseases, also suggested the virus had been engineered, saying it wasn’t a “natural occurrence.” Scientists widely believe the virus jumped from animals to human beings, and the US Intelligence Community took the unusual step of publicly saying it believed the virus wasn’t “manmade or genetically modified.”
The video includes allegations that coronavirus deaths are higher than they should be because doctors are being incentivized to say their patients died from the virus to get money from a national health insurance program. There is no evidence that case numbers are being inflated.
Google-owned YouTube was removing videos for violating its rules though it could still be found on the platform late Thursday afternoon. A YouTube spokesman said the company will remove videos that include “medically unsubstantiated diagnostic advice for COVID-19.” Plandemic videos racked up a combined 4.7 million views on YouTube on Monday and Tuesday, according to BuzzSumo, a social media tool.
Twitter said it was blocking the hashtags #PlagueOfCorruption and #Plandemicmovie from its search and trends. Mikovits tweeted a video in which she urged President Donald Trump to end the lockdown and stop requiring people to wear masks, calling the face coverings “dangerous.”
Twitter said the tweet didn’t violate its rules against harmful coronavirus misinformation but said the link to her video was marked as unsafe, limiting its spread. The company also marked a link to the documentary’s website as unsafe. Still, the Plandemic video could be found on Twitter late Thursday afternoon.
Despite these efforts, Plandemic videos continue to pop up, including on Facebook. Some Facebook users were sharing the video in public groups, but linking to other sites that aren’t as well known as YouTube or to the documentary’s website.
Keeping the video off social media has proven to be a game of content moderation whack-a-mole for tech firms. Social networks have been trying to combat misinformation by directing users to more trustworthy sources including the CDC and the World Health Organization.
Mikki Willis, the filmmaker behind Plandemic, said in an email that he doesn’t plan to appeal the takedowns of the videos, but added that he was “working on a strategy to bypass the gatekeepers.”