Infodemic: a new outbreak in Xinjiang, pedophilia myths in Brazil and trouble in Turkmenistan
Welcome! We are tracking how global disinformation is shaping the world emerging from the Covid-19 lockdown. Today, from Xinjiang to Serbia, Brazil and Turkmenistan, we explore narratives — both real and fake — that have caught our attention and deserve yours.
Sign up for the Infodemic, tracking coronavirus disinformation
Chinese authorities are reporting a new Covid-19 outbreak in the capital of the far northwestern Xinjiang region. The province entered “wartime mode” after its health commission reported 25 cases in Urumqi and a further case in the city of Kashgar. Authorities immediately locked down communities in the capital, banning public gatherings and implementing mass screenings. Xinjiang, home to Uyghurs and other Chinese Muslim minorities, has so far seen low coronavirus numbers. Until last week, it had reported just 76 cases and six deaths. Uyghurs living abroad worried that the figures were in fact much higher. Read our investigation into how Uyghurs have been transported across China during the pandemic to work in forced labor programs.
Vaccine disinformation is on the rise in Serbia, where Covid-19 case numbers continue to grow after the lifting of a nationwide lockdown in May. President Aleksandar Vucic says that his government is in talks with an unnamed country about acquiring a “completed” vaccine by the end of the year. He refused to identify the nation to journalists, but none of the 23 vaccines currently in clinical trials are close to that stage, according to the World Health Organization. Adding to the confusion, Serbian media outlets are reporting that Russia has completed clinical trials of a coronavirus vaccine, with mass production expected to start in August. However, the vaccine in question — developed by the Russian Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Moscow — has only been safely tested on 38 volunteers, just passing the first very first stage of clinical trials.
Sign up for the Infodemic, tracking coronavirus disinformation
FOLLOW UP: GLOBAL PEDOPHILIA MYTHS
In May, we wrote about a strange Facebook post by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, in which he accused the WHO of encouraging children to masturbate — a myth that originated on Russian fake news sites. Last week, we reported that it had resurfaced in Mexico.