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News Articles: coronavirus misinformation

Tagged as: 

  • Health

Pro-Trump counties now have far higher COVID death rates. Misinformation is to blame

An analysis by NPR shows that since the vaccine rollout, counties that voted heavily for Donald Trump have had more than twice the COVID mortality rates of those that voted for Joe Biden.

December 06, 2021
|
By:
  • Daniel Wood and
  • Geoff Brumfiel
Dr. Lee Merritt is a orthopedic and spinal surgeon who spreads misinformation about COVID-19. She is affiliated with a prominent right-wing group known as America's Frontline Doctors.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

A doctor spread COVID misinformation and renewed her license with a mouse click

Lee Merritt is a back surgeon with a long history of spreading COVID misinformation. But she renewed her medical license last month.

November 04, 2021
|
By:
  • Geoff Brumfiel
YouTube has announced immediate bans on false claims that vaccines are dangerous and cause health issues such as autism, cancer or infertility.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

YouTube Is Banning All Content That Spreads Vaccine Misinformation

The site announced that videos that contain vaccine misinformation will be removed.

September 29, 2021
|
By:
  • Sharon Pruitt-Young
Dr. Simone Gold discourages vaccination against COVID-19 and promotes alternative, unproven therapies. She has spent much of the past year speaking at events like this one held in West Palm Beach, Fla., in December. The conference was aimed at young people ages 15 to 25.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

This Doctor Spread False Information About COVID. She Still Kept Her Medical License

Simone Gold isn't alone. NPR found other physicians who retained their licenses despite spreading misinformation online and to the media about effective COVID-19 vaccines and unproven treatments.

September 15, 2021
|
By:
  • Geoff Brumfiel
Allie Henderson with her sister Claire (left) and her mom, LeAnn, outside their home recently in Terry, Miss. "I want people to get vaccinated — because I know what it feels like," Allie says of her near-fatal encounter with COVID-19 this year.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

This Teen's Community Rallied As She Fought COVID. But Many Still Shun The Vaccine

Allie Henderson's friends, extended family, church and the community prayed for the popular young athlete and then celebrated her recovery. So why won't they follow her plea and get vaccinated?

September 03, 2021
|
By:
  • Sarah Varney
Facebook is defending itself from accusations from the White House and other critics that it's not doing enough to curb health misinformation.

Tagged as: 

  • Technology

Facebook's Most Viewed Article In Early 2021 Raised Doubt About COVID Vaccine

The social network acknowledged it had held back a report about the most viewed content on its platform in the first three months of 2021.

August 23, 2021
|
By:
  • Shannon Bond
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, who has helped the U.S. through other crises like the Zika outbreak, is now taking on health misinformation around COVID-19, which he says continues to jeopardize the country's efforts to beat back the virus.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

The U.S. Surgeon General Is Calling COVID-19 Misinformation An 'Urgent Threat'

The nation's top doctor, Vivek Murthy, says misinformation will keep sowing mistrust and endangering lives unless all Americans do their part to fight it.

July 15, 2021
|
By:
  • Geoff Brumfiel
Solid research has found the vaccines authorized for use against COVID-19 to be safe and effective. But some anti-vaccine activists are mischaracterizing government data to imply the jabs are dangerous.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

Anti-Vaccine Activists Use A Federal Database To Spread Fear About COVID Vaccines

The system is designed to provide early warning of what might or might not be actual side effects. But anti-vaccine groups are bending the data to their own ends.

June 17, 2021
|
By:
  • Geoff Brumfiel
Anti-vaccine advocates are using the COVID-19 pandemic to promote books, supplementals and services.

Tagged as: 

  • Health

For Some Anti-Vaccine Advocates, Misinformation Is Part Of A Business

The coronavirus pandemic has created an opening for vaccine opponents to peddle alternative therapies, unproven cures and website subscriptions.

May 12, 2021
|
By:
  • Geoff Brumfiel
A healthcare worker administers a dose of the coronavirus vaccine to an elderly at a health center in the Cypriot coastal city of Limassol on February 8, 2021.

Tagged as: 

  • Technology

Facebook Widens Ban On COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation In Push To Boost Confidence

The social network says it will focus on groups, pages and accounts repeatedly sharing false claims about vaccines.

February 08, 2021
|
By:
  • Shannon Bond
Twitter says it will work with global health experts to enforce new rules prohibiting conspiracy-based misinformation about the coronavirus.

Tagged as: 

  • Technology

Twitter To Remove Or Place Warning Labels On COVID Vaccine Conspiracy Tweets

The social media giant says it will not allow tweets containing "unsubstantiated rumors, disputed claims" or promotion of "out of context information" about the vaccine.

December 16, 2020
|
By:
  • Vanessa Romo
Facebook said the president's claims violated its coronavirus misinformation policy, in a rare departure from the social network's largely hands-off approach to politicians.

Tagged as: 

  • Technology

Twitter, Facebook Remove Trump Post Over False Claim About Children And COVID-19

Both social networks said the president's false claims that children are "almost immune" from COVID-19 violated its policy on coronavirus misinformation.

August 06, 2020
|
By:
  • Shannon Bond

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