Infodemic: German drinkers use false names and India’s government claims ignorance on migrant worker deaths
Welcome. Coda reporter Gautama Mehta here, taking over from Natalia. We are tracking how disinformation is shaping the world during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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The past few days have seen more protests against lockdown measures and mask requirements in Georgia, Australia, Mexico, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, and the U.K. This weekend, Our reporter Irina Machavariani went to a protest held outside the Georgian parliament in Tbilisi. She saw banners featuring the face of President John Magufuli of Tanzania, who has claimed that the power of prayer has cured his country of Covid-19, and Bill Gates, who was described as “the murderer of children.” Another read, “Make your choice: Freedom or masked slavery?”
Iran’s health ministry says that an Iranian-built app, designed to help people self-diagnose Covid-19, has been banned from the Google Play Store as a result of U.S. sanctions. Apps and games developed in the country have frequently been removed from the platform. In March, we reported how U.S. foreign policy meant that the Johns Hopkins coronavirus map – a vital tool for keeping track of infection rates – was unavailable to Iranian users.
In Germany, another kind of coronavirus misinformation has surfaced. Bar patrons may be endangering public health by using creative pseudonyms. In much of Germany, customers at restaurants and bars must provide contact information for contact tracing purposes. After a surge in cases, a bar in Hamburg began trying to track down hundreds of patrons for testing, but found its efforts stymied by the false information they had given — including names like Darth Vader, Mickey Mouse and Lucky Luke.