Tailor-made Truth
With lock-downs forcing conspiracy theory experts at home, sitting in front of their computer for hours, a flourishing of crazy ideas on how and why Coronavirus originated was predictable. And in fact, it happened.
I find the relentless energy dedicated to pushing these narratives at the same time dangerous and entertaining. Less funny is the fact that the president of the United States leverages some of these stories to motivate his crazy policies, harming the safety of Americans and a delicate global economic recovery.
Many articles can be found online to debunk Coronavirus pandemic conspiracy theories and my list is extracted from one of them. Let’s give a look at the most popular ones.
5G wireless network diffusion is responsible for Coronavirus outbreak: according to this idea, the virus travels on the new generation mobile phone network. This conspiracy theory — after being spread by celebrities with big social media followings — has led to cellphone towers being set on fire in the UK and elsewhere.
Bill Gates is behind Coronavirus and has been financing its spread: a favorite of anti-vaxxers worldwide. The founder of Microsoft created and spread the virus to force us to vaccinate.
The virus escaped from a Chinese lab: the favorite of the President of the United States of America. It leverages the fact that the virus originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
COVID-19 was created as a biological weapon: A spicier variant of the previous theory is that COVID not only escaped from a lab, but it was intentionally created by Chinese scientists as a biowarfare weapon. According to Pew Research, “nearly three-in-10 Americans believe that COVID-19 was made in a lab,” either intentionally or accidentally (the former is more popular: specifically, 23 percent believe it was developed intentionally, with only 6 percent believing it was an accident).
The United States of America imported Coronavirus into China: The Chinese response to American conspiracy theories. According to China high officials, the virus might have brought to Wuhan by US military personnel during their participation in the 2019 Military World Games in Wuhan last October.
GMOs are to blame for Coronavirus: In early March, an article appeared on an Italian newspaper claiming that genetically modified crops cause genetic pollution that allows viruses to proliferate due to the resulting environmental “imbalance.” Anti-GMO activists have also tried to blame modern agriculture, which is strange since the known path of the virus into the human population — as with Ebola, HIV and many others — was through the very ancient practice of people capturing and killing wildlife.
COVID-19 does not exist: an all-time classic. COVID-19 doesn’t actually exist but is a plot by the globalist elite to take away our freedoms. It is often pushed by some of the most well-known conspiracy theorists.
The pandemic is being manipulated by the ‘deep state’: Some believe that a “deep state” of America’s elite is plotting to undermine the president — and that Dr. Anthony Fauci, the face of the US coronavirus pandemic response — is a secret member.
COVID-19 is a plot by Big Pharma: evidence-based (i.e. conventional) medicine doesn’t work and is a plot by big pharmaceutical companies to make us ill. Coronavirus can only be defeated by some magic remedy, often sold by the same people that actively promote this theory.
COVID-19 death rates are inflated: this conspiracy theory very popular in the United States, especially among far-right supporters. The idea is that COVID death rates are being inflated and therefore this re is no reason to observe lockdown regulations or other social distancing measures.
What’s certain is that there is a surging demand, in a certain slice of the world population, for self-service truths to confirm speculation ranging between plain manipulation and innocent wishful thinking. Conspiracy theorists, borderline think thanks and opaque firms specialized in social marketing will do all they can to capitalize on such demand.
Whatever your beliefs and political affiliations are, whenever in doubt, just wash your hands.
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