Gogi Kamushadze

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What do Bolsonaro, Vladimir Putin and masturbation have in common? Plus the conspiracy blame game gets nasty

Welcome back! We're tracking the global spread of coronavirus disinformation, and what is being done to combat it. 

I try hard to avoid starting the Infodemic newsletter with Donald Trump or Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro. Often I fail. Today is one of those days. 

The myth of masturbation 

While Donald Trump accused China of manufacturing coronavirus in a Wuhan lab, President Bolsonaro accused the WHO of forcing children to masturbate: 

  • In a long and slightly meandering post on his Facebook page he asked why he should follow the WHO guidelines on coronavirus when WHO has a policy of encouraging masturbation in young children. 
  • This is the World Health Organization (WHO) everyone says I should follow in the case of the coronavirus. Should we then also follow their guidelines for educational policies?” he wrote, then listing those “policies” including masturbation for children as young as 4. 

The post made little sense and it was quickly deleted, though it is still available here.