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After the initial outbreak of the 2019–20 novel coronavirus, conspiracy theories and misinformation spread online regarding the origin and scale of the Wuhan coronavirus. Various social media posts claimed the virus was a bio-weapon, a population control scheme, or the result of a spy operation. Facebook, Twitter and Google announced they will crack down on possible misinformation. In a blogpost, Facebook stated they would remove content flagged by leading global health organizations and local authorities that violate its content policy on misinformation leading to "physical harm".

On 2 February, the WHO declared there was a "massive infodemic" accompanying the outbreak and response, citing an over-abundance of reported information, accurate and false, about the virus that "makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it." The WHO stated that the high demand for timely and trustworthy information has incentivised the creation of a direct WHO 24/7 myth-busting hotline where its communication and social media teams have been monitoring and responding to misinformation through its website and social media pages.

Eating bats

Some media outlets, including Daily Mail and RT, spread misinformation by promoting a video showing a young Chinese woman biting into a bat, falsely suggesting it was shot in Wuhan and that the cause of the outbreak was due to locals eating bats. The widely circulated video features unrelated footage of Chinese travel vlogger Wang Mengyun eating bat soup in the island country Palau in 2016 as part of an online travel programme. Mengyun stated in a Weibo post that she was inundated with abuse, including death threats for the video and that she only wished to showcase local Palauan cuisine.

Human made

The BBC published an article which cited two 24 January articles from the The Washington Times which claimed the virus was part of a Chinese biological weapons program. The Washington Post later published an article debunking the conspiracy theory.

On 29 January, financial blog ZeroHedge suggested, without evidence, that a scientist at the Wuhan Institute of Virology created the 2019-nCoV strain responsible for the coronavirus outbreak. Zerohedge listed the full contact details of the scientist supposedly responsible, a practice known as doxing, by including the scientist's name, photo and phone number, suggesting to readers that they "pay a visit" if they wanted to know "what really caused the coronavirus pandemic". Twitter later permanently suspended the blog's account for violating its platform manipulation policy.

Some conspiracy theorists, anti-vaxxers and fake news websites have alleged that the coronavirus was stolen from a Canadian virus research lab by Chinese scientists, citing a news article by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in July 2019. The CBC claimed their early report was distorted by misinformation, and that the conspiracy theory had "no factual basis". Supporters of the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory and the anti-vax community falsely claimed the outbreak was a population control scheme created by Pirbright Institute in England, and by former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates.

Size of the outbreak

On 24 January, a video circulated online appearing to be of a nurse in Hubei province describing a far more dire situation in Wuhan than purported by Chinese officials. The video claims that more than 90,000 people have been infected with the virus in China alone. The video attracted millions of views on various social media platforms and was mentioned in numerous online reports. However, the BBC noted that contrary to its English subtitles in one of the video's existing versions, the woman does not claim to be either a nurse or a doctor in the video and that her suit and mask do not match the ones worn by medical staff in Hubei. The video's claim of 90,000 infected cases is noted to be 'unsubstantiated'.

Vaccine and treatment

Conspiracy theorists have also claimed the virus had been patented and that a vaccine was already available. Politifact and Factcheck.org noted that no vaccine currently exists for the Wuhan coronavirus. The patents cited by various social media posts reference existing patents for genetic sequences and vaccines for other strains of coronavirus such as the SARS coronavirus. The WHO reported as of 5 February 2020 that amid news reports of "breakthrough" drugs being discovered to treat people infected with the virus, there were no known effective treatments. This includes antibiotics and herbal remedies not being useful.

References

1. ^ "China coronavirus: Misinformation spreads online about origin and scale". BBC News Online. 30 January 2020.
2. ^ Jessica McDonald (24 January 2020). "Social Media Posts Spread Bogus Coronavirus Conspiracy Theory". factcheck.org.
3. "Here's A Running List Of Disinformation Spreading About The Coronavirus". Buzzfeed News.
4. Ghaffary, Shirin; Heilweil, Rebecca (31 January 2020). "How tech companies are scrambling to deal with coronavirus hoaxes". Vox.
5. Richtel, Matt (2020-02-06). "W.H.O. Fights a Pandemic Besides Coronavirus: an 'Infodemic'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
6. "As coronavirus misinformation spreads on social media, Facebook removes posts". Reuters. 2020-02-01. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
7. World Health Organization (2020). Novel Coronavirus (‎2019-nCoV)‎: situation report, 13 (Report). World Health Organization. hdl:10665/330778.
8. "Coronavirus: UN health agency moves fast to tackle 'infodemic'; Guterres warns against stigmatization". UN News. 2020-02-04. Retrieved 2020-02-05.
9. "WHO Says There's No Effective Coronavirus Treatment Yet". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
10. ^ James Palmer (27 January 2020). "Don't Blame Bat Soup for the Wuhan Virus". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
11. ^ Josh Taylor (30 January 2020). "Bat soup, dodgy cures and 'diseasology': the spread of coronavirus misinformation". The Guardian.
12. ^ Marnie O’Neill (29 January 2020). "Chinese influencer Wang Mengyun, aka 'Bat soup girl' breaks silence". news.au.
13. ^ Gaynor, Gerren Keith (28 January 2020). "Coronavirus: Outrage over Chinese blogger eating 'bat soup' sparks apology". Fox News Channel.
14. "China coronavirus: Misinformation spreads online". BBC News Online. 30 January 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
15. "Experts debunk fringe theory linking China's coronavirus to weapons research". The Washington Post. 29 January 2020. Archived from the original on 31 January 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
16. Peters, Jay (31 January 2020). "Markets blogger Zero Hedge suspended from Twitter after doxxing a Chinese scientist". The Verge.
17. ^ Broderick, Ryan (31 January 2020). "A Pro-Trump Blog Doxed A Chinese Scientist It Falsely Accused Of Creating The Coronavirus As A Bioweapon". BuzzFeed News.
18. Datoo, Siraj (31 January 2020). "Zero Hedge Permanently Suspended From Twitter for 'Harassment'". Bloomberg. Retrieved 7 February 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
19. Yates, Karen; Pauls, Jeff. "Online claims that Chinese scientists stole coronavirus from Winnipeg lab have 'no factual basis'". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Event occurs at 27 January 2020.
20. Yates, Karen; Pauls, Jeff. "Chinese translation: 中国科学家从温尼伯实验室中窃取 冠状病毒的网络传言'没有事实根据'". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Event occurs at 27 January 2020.
21. Saranac Hale Spencer (28 January 2020). "Coronavirus Wasn't Sent by 'Spy' From Canada". Factcheck.org.
22. Broderick, Ryan (23 January 2020). "QAnon Supporters And Anti-Vaxxers Are Spreading A Hoax That Bill Gates Created The Coronavirus". BuzzFeed News.
23. ^ Ghaffary, Shirin (2020-01-31). "Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube struggle with coronavirus hoaxes". Vox. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
24. Washington, District of Columbia 1100 Connecticut Ave NW Suite 1300B; Dc 20036. "PolitiFact – No, there is no vaccine for the Wuhan coronavirus". @politifact. Retrieved 2020-02-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
25. "WHO: 'no known effective' treatments for new coronavirus". Reuters. 2020-02-05. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
26. "Dispelling the myths around the new coronavirus outbreak". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 8 February 2020.

• 2019–20 Wuhan coronavirus outbreak
• Conspiracy theories in Asia