Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis unleashes misinformation campaigns, conspiracy theories online

In a bizarre turn of events, as COVID-19 continues to tighten its grip on world, Donald Trump's COVID-19 diagsis has swept people into an online vortex of misinformation.  social media saw a flood of rumours, misinformation and conspiracy ories as news broke on Friday. From tweets claiming how Democrats might have intentionally infected US President to people on Facebook suggesting that he is faking illness just weeks before presidential elections, people were subjected to several versions of Trump’s diagsis on ir social media feed. 

Many people even expressed ir doubts regarding timing of news, as one of most divisive vember election is just around corner. Meanwhile, Trump too has contributed to misinformation campaign by sharing unverified reports about efficiency of hydroxychloroquine to widespre claims on voter fraud, both on Twitter and public dresses. 

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“This is both a political crisis weeks before election and also a health crisis; it’s a perfect storm,” said Alexandra Cirone, an assistant professor at Cornell University who studies effect of misinformation on government.

Donald Trump, who has me numerous contrictory remarks regarding COVID-19 pandemic, most recently h mocked Democratic rival Joe Biden for wearing masks, thus sparking partisan conspiracy ories on social media.  news also triggered bizarre conjecture among QAn followers, a baseless campaign that claims Trump is fighting against a secret network of government officials and celebrities running a child trafficking ring. 

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How has social media responded to chaos?

With chaos roiling on social media platforms, Facebook informed on Friday, October 2, that it h swiftly begun monitoring information around Trump’s COVID-19 diagsis. site has started applying fact checks to some of false reports. Meanwhile, Twitter was reported to be monitoring a surge in “copypasta” campaigns around  US President’s illness.

“Copypasta” campaigns are an attempt by several accounts on Twitter to relay same phrase over and over again to inundate users with messaging, sometimes signalling of coordinated activity. As per reports, microblogging website is currently working on limiting such posts. However, according to an analysis by misinformation-tracking tech company VineSight, nearly 30,000 Twitter users h retweeted a range of conspiracy ories about news on October 2 itself.

As of w, Donald Trump is hospitalised for 'few days' at Walter Reed Medical Centre after needing supplemented oxygen at White House. Even after his mission, confusion has surrounded his health status with his staff and associates making contricting remarks.

(With AP Inputs)

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