top kek! I am switching to gas gen for electricity!
see ya suckers! bwahahahahah
With the coronavirus, usually distinct conspiracy groups turn
to a shared interest
Taylor Hatmaker
8:00 am EDT • April 21, 2020
"The coronavirus pandemic’s global presence and ubiquity in everyday life is a perfect storm for misinformation, as conspiracy theorists from different corners of the web converge on a shared news topic—the only topic, at the moment. From the earliest days of the crisis, everyone from pro-Trump QAnon conspiracists to left-leaning purveyors of dubious home remedies could find a strain of misinformation tailor-made for their interests.
In new research led by its cyber intelligence analyst Melanie Smith, the social analytics AI company Graphika compared snapshots of the coronavirus conversation on Twitter in January, February and March, creating a bird’s eye view of misinformation about the virus from its earliest online mentions.
Researchers from Graphika, which specializes in disinformation, found that coronavirus conspiracies thrived unchecked in January and February, when news of the virus had yet to fully capture the world’s attention. Into March, more mainstream voices emerged to fill the information vacuum. At the same time, previously popular xenophobic hashtags like #chinavirus and #wuhanvirus were overtaken by mainstream public health terms for the virus.
In the early info vacuum, misinformation generally focused on the cause of the virus and the mystery of its origins, with plenty of unfounded theories put forward. In February, a flurry of conspiracies accused Bill Gates of creating the pandemic and potentially profiting from a vaccine, claims that originated with a QAnon-linked YouTuber.
Unfounded treatments for COVID-19 including “garlic, bleach, a strict water intake, and Silver Solution (potentially lethal doses of colloidal silver)” also emerged during this time, with colloidal silver in particular taking off among QAnon supporters on Twitter."
moar:
https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/21/coronavirus-misinformation-hoaxes-graphika-report/
sucker for pretty colors