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Last summer’s Covid-19 infections are sparking a wave of conspiracy theories.
By Stuart A. Thompson
As Covid-19 cases surged amid a surge in late summer, right-wing influencers and conspiracy theorists responded by stoking fears about mass lockdowns and spreading new, unsubstantiated information about Covid-19’s links to global events.
“Do anti-Covid measures put us back on a war footing in anticipation of a war with Russia?” said Jack Posobiec, a right-wing figure, before more than 150,000 followers on his Telegram channel.
There is little evidence that the current wave of Covid-19 cases results in the kind of excessive countermeasures that were seen at the height of the pandemic. The percentage of Covid-19 cases nationwide peaked at 14. 1% in August, matching the maximum number of outbreaks since the pandemic began. However, hospitalizations were at near-historic levels.
Instead, the government has responded with targeted efforts, noting that the country enjoys broader immunity, greater remedies for the sick, and more available tests that can prevent outbreaks from turning into full-blown crises.
But for conspiracy theorists and right-wing influencers online, every surge is an opportunity to sow concern and upset their followers, according to disinformation experts. The use of the terms “plandemic” and “scam,” two terms that describe Covid-19 as a ruse, rose sharply in August on right-wing websites, according to data from Pyrra, a company that monitors threats and misinformation on select social networks.
“I would almost say it’s an obsession for the anti-vaxxer and Covid-denier community,” said Welton Chang, co-founder and chief executive of Pyrra. “They just make mountains out of grains of sand for every little thing. “
Misinformation about Covid-19 is as old as the virus itself. It’s largely about vaccines: One-third of Americans said they believed Covid-19 vaccines had caused thousands of sudden deaths in healthy people, according to a survey. published in August through KFF, a nonprofit think tank. While there is no link between Covid-19 vaccines and sudden deaths, conspiracy theorists have circulated the concept as celebrities and athletes fall ill from independent causes.
In many right-wing spaces, users still claim, without evidence, that the virus is a planned biological weapon, that vaccines involve microchips, or that unproven drugs offer cures for virus symptoms.
As Covid-19 becomes recurring like the flu, misinformation experts warn that the misconceptions and misconceptions swirling around the pandemic will continue to evolve.
The latest misleading claims emerged after comments by the Biden administration in late August, when it issued warnings about a wave of Covid-19 infections in the fall. Health officials have advised Americans to get vaccinated instead of the new subvariants with the following booster doses.
The quick reaction.
“RED ALERT!” appeared on the cover this week of Infowars, the conspiratorial tale of Alex Jones, the right-wing fabulist. “White House announces plan to reinstate Covid tyranny. “
The situation has also activated conservative politicians, who have found that criticizing lockdowns and mask mandates is a politically harsh message to Republican voters.
“No mask mandate,” Vivek Ramaswamy, a Republican running for the presidential nomination, told the Daily Signal, a right-wing news site. “There is no vaccine mandate. Never confinement. “
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. , said this month that the accumulation of exaggerated cases by Democrats to “distract people” from the party’s policy failures.
“We’re going to have more Covid to generate mass hysteria and fear,” he said on Infowars, the conspiracy communication show hosted by M. Jones.
Former President Donald J. Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, has affirmed his opposition to vaccines and the countermeasures he once championed as president.
Last week he posted a video on Truth Social, his social network, claiming that considerations about Covid-19 variants were a ruse to reinstate the vote-by-mail policies used in the 2020 election.
“The madmen on the left are looking with all their might to bring back the Covid lockdowns and mandates with all their sudden crusade of concern about the new variants that are coming,” he said. “Damn, do you know what’s going to happen more? The next elections.
Stuart A. Thompson is a Technology reporter who handles online news. Learn more about Stuart A. Thompson
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