Coronavirus Is Spreading — And So Are the Hoaxes and Conspiracy Theories Around It
As the deadly virus spreads, people are making some pretty outrageous (and inaccurate) claims
March 18, 2020 3:30PM ET
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-...ry-942416/
6) Coronavirus is a bioweapon engineered by the Chinese government (or the CIA) to wage war on America (or China)
Due to the recent history of strained diplomatic relations between the two countries, it makes sense that some would speculate that coronavirus was covertly engineered in a lab as part of an extended campaign to weaken the opposing country.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R – Ark.) has publicly endorsed this idea on Fox News last month, “We don’t know where it originated, and we have to get to the bottom of that,” Cotton said. “We also know that just a few miles away from that food market is China’s only biosafety level 4 super laboratory that researches human infectious diseases.”
(British tabloid the Daily Mail also published a story on the existence of this lab, heavily implying that it was responsible for the spread of the virus.)
Unfortunately for conspiracy theory-mongers, there’s “absolutely nothing in the genome sequence of this virus that indicates the virus was engineered,” Richard Ebright, a professor of chemical biology at Rutgers University, told the Washington Post, adding that “the possibility this was a deliberately released bioweapon can be firmly excluded.”
But that certainly hasn’t stopped even government officials from continuing to sow the seeds of this theory, with congressional candidate Joanne Wright tweeting on February 28th about Gates potentially funding the development of the disease in the Wuhan lab. (Twitter has added a link to the website for the Centers for Disease Control at the top of search results for Wright and coronavirus, in part to curb such misinformation without explicitly banning it.)
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/zero-hedge/
Analysis / Bias
In a quote from the above New Yorker article they summarize the political stance of the blog, which Lokey told Bloomberg is: “Russia=good. Obama=idiot. Bashar al-Assad=benevolent leader. John Kerry= dunce. Vladimir Putin=greatest leader in the history of statecraft.”
Zero Hedge’s content has been classified as “alt-right” and has been criticized for presenting conspiracy theories.
In review, Zero Hedge publishes pro-right wing/Trump articles such as Pat Buchanan: “Trump Calls Off Cold War II.” As well as fake news stories regarding liberals: Anti-Trump Protesters Bused Into Austin, Chicago.
Editorial content is written under the pseudonym Tyler Durden and usually focuses on conspiracies related to economic collapse. Zero Hedge sources to factually mixed think tanks such as the The Mises Institute, which promotes Austrian (Anarcho-Capitalism) economics.
A factual search reveals a terrible track record with IFCN fact checkers. Below is just a small sample of the numerous failed fact checks by Zero Hedge.
◾Says China “stole Coronavirus from Canada and weaponized it into a Bioweapon.” – False
◾Is a Craigslist ad proof that counterprotesters at a white nationalist rally were “paid to make chaos”? – False
◾It’s now against the law in California to shower and do laundry on the same day. – Mostly False
◾A “newly uncovered” photograph reveals Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was crying over an empty parking lot, not detained migrant children, at a protest in Texas. – False
◾“The Ukrainian government just indicted the Burisma gas company & named Hunter Biden for accepting millions of dollars from a slush fund.” – False
Overall, we rate Zero Hedge an extreme right biased conspiracy website based on the promotion of false/misleading/debunked information that routinely denigrates the left. (8/18/2016) Updated (M. Huitsing 1/29/2020)
Source: https://www.zerohedge.com/
As the deadly virus spreads, people are making some pretty outrageous (and inaccurate) claims
March 18, 2020 3:30PM ET
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-...ry-942416/
6) Coronavirus is a bioweapon engineered by the Chinese government (or the CIA) to wage war on America (or China)
Due to the recent history of strained diplomatic relations between the two countries, it makes sense that some would speculate that coronavirus was covertly engineered in a lab as part of an extended campaign to weaken the opposing country.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R – Ark.) has publicly endorsed this idea on Fox News last month, “We don’t know where it originated, and we have to get to the bottom of that,” Cotton said. “We also know that just a few miles away from that food market is China’s only biosafety level 4 super laboratory that researches human infectious diseases.”
(British tabloid the Daily Mail also published a story on the existence of this lab, heavily implying that it was responsible for the spread of the virus.)
Unfortunately for conspiracy theory-mongers, there’s “absolutely nothing in the genome sequence of this virus that indicates the virus was engineered,” Richard Ebright, a professor of chemical biology at Rutgers University, told the Washington Post, adding that “the possibility this was a deliberately released bioweapon can be firmly excluded.”
But that certainly hasn’t stopped even government officials from continuing to sow the seeds of this theory, with congressional candidate Joanne Wright tweeting on February 28th about Gates potentially funding the development of the disease in the Wuhan lab. (Twitter has added a link to the website for the Centers for Disease Control at the top of search results for Wright and coronavirus, in part to curb such misinformation without explicitly banning it.)
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/zero-hedge/
Analysis / Bias
In a quote from the above New Yorker article they summarize the political stance of the blog, which Lokey told Bloomberg is: “Russia=good. Obama=idiot. Bashar al-Assad=benevolent leader. John Kerry= dunce. Vladimir Putin=greatest leader in the history of statecraft.”
Zero Hedge’s content has been classified as “alt-right” and has been criticized for presenting conspiracy theories.
In review, Zero Hedge publishes pro-right wing/Trump articles such as Pat Buchanan: “Trump Calls Off Cold War II.” As well as fake news stories regarding liberals: Anti-Trump Protesters Bused Into Austin, Chicago.
Editorial content is written under the pseudonym Tyler Durden and usually focuses on conspiracies related to economic collapse. Zero Hedge sources to factually mixed think tanks such as the The Mises Institute, which promotes Austrian (Anarcho-Capitalism) economics.
A factual search reveals a terrible track record with IFCN fact checkers. Below is just a small sample of the numerous failed fact checks by Zero Hedge.
◾Says China “stole Coronavirus from Canada and weaponized it into a Bioweapon.” – False
◾Is a Craigslist ad proof that counterprotesters at a white nationalist rally were “paid to make chaos”? – False
◾It’s now against the law in California to shower and do laundry on the same day. – Mostly False
◾A “newly uncovered” photograph reveals Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was crying over an empty parking lot, not detained migrant children, at a protest in Texas. – False
◾“The Ukrainian government just indicted the Burisma gas company & named Hunter Biden for accepting millions of dollars from a slush fund.” – False
Overall, we rate Zero Hedge an extreme right biased conspiracy website based on the promotion of false/misleading/debunked information that routinely denigrates the left. (8/18/2016) Updated (M. Huitsing 1/29/2020)
Source: https://www.zerohedge.com/
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