The Infodemic: North Korea’s lack of transparency on Covid-19 feeds disinfo in South Korea; New Zealand is not immune to 5G conspiracies
Welcome! We're tracking the global spread of coronavirus disinformation, and what is being done to combat it. Below are a few narratives - real and fake - that have caught our attention.
New Zealand has received much-deserved praise for its handling of the Covid-19 crisis and for managing to not just flatten but actually squash the curve. But the country is not immune to the accompanying infodemic:
- New Zealand’s social media is full of theories linking 5G to coronavirus
- Mobile operators have called on police to investigate a string of threats and attacks on cell phone towers in the country, some of which have caused “irreparable damage” at a time when telecommunications is essential
- Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has condemned the conspiracy theories as “just not true”
Background: Beliefs that 5G suppresses immune systems and causes cancer predate the pandemic, but the spread of Covid-19 has sent 5G conspiracy theorists into overdrive. Earlier this month, we reported on a Stop 5G UK Facebook page, which was filled with apocalyptic messages and videos, claiming that the “virus is a result of 5G exposure, a mass depopulation project, a plot led by Bill Gates, or a ploy to vaccinate people with a tracking microchip.”
An interesting development: Looks like Facebook just took down most of Stop5G pages, something the company has refused to do in the past.