(Agence France-Presse) — From quack cures to smoking cigarettes to ward off COVID-19, disinformation circulating online about the coronavirus has been massive, a report by five European fact-checking organisations, including AFP, has found.
As the virus reached its peak across Europe in March and April, “false and sometimes dangerous advice about supposed cures” spread rapidly, from gargling with vinegar to drinking disinfectant, said the analysis, which covers the UK, Italy, Spain, Germany and France.
Conspiracy theories also ran wild, the authors said, including that the virus was man-made, that it was linked to the 5G network, with the Microsoft founder Bill Gates a particular focus of paranoia.
“Like a super villain in a James Bond movie, the billionaire is portrayed as someone who wants to ‘control people’, at any cost,” the report found.
In France many claimed that “Gates wants to take advantage of COVID-19 to implant ‘microchips’ through vaccines in order to label and geolocate the population.” (…)