Anatomy of a conspiracy: With COVID disinformation, China took a leading role
An Associated Press investigation, conducted in collaboration with the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, found that powerful political figures and allied media in China, the U.S., Russia and Iran flooded the globe with disinformation about the origins of the COVID pandemic.
By ERIKA KINETZAssociated Press
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Clockwise from left: Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei; Russian President Vladimir Putin; former U.S. President Trump; and Chinese President Xi Jinping. AP Illustration/Peter Hamlin
BRUSSELS The rumors began almost as soon as the disease itself. Claims that a foreign adversary had unleashed a bioweapon emerged at the fringes of Chinese social media the same day China first reported the outbreak of a mysterious virus.
MAGA media has moved even further right as I predicted, but I wouldn't have guessed Fox News would come crawling back to Donald Trump as did during impeachment hearings.
(AP Illustration/Peter Hamlin) (AP Illustration/Peter Hamlin) FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2020 file photo, people wearing masks attend a vigil for Chinese doctor Li Wenliang, in Hong Kong. The outpouring of grief and . FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2020 file photo, people wearing masks attend a vigil for Chinese doctor Li Wenliang, in Hong Kong. The outpouring of grief and rage sparked by Li s death was an unusual - and for the Chinese Communist Party, unsettling - display in China s tightly monitored civic space. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File) FILE - In this March 11, 2020 file photo, Russian Liberal Democratic Party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky speaks during a session at the State Duma, the .
Anatomy of a conspiracy: With COVID-19, China took leading role
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Last Updated: Feb 15, 2021, 11:17 AM IST
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Synopsis
A nine-month investigation of state-sponsored disinformation conducted in collaboration with the Atlantic Council s Digital Forensic Research Lab, shows how a rumor that the U.S. created the virus that causes COVID-19 was weaponized by the Chinese government, spreading from the dark corners of the Internet to millions across the globe.
AP
In Pic: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying speaks during a daily briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing
BRUSSELS : The rumors began almost as soon as the disease itself. Claims that a foreign adversary had unleashed a bioweapon emerged at the fringes of Chinese social media the same day China first reported the outbreak of a mysterious virus.