Extremists Use Coronavirus to Advance Racist, Conspiratorial Agendas
Mainstream Platforms
While these racist and conspiratorial themes are prevalent on social media platforms frequented by extremists, similar messages are also spreading on more mainstream platforms like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Reddit.
Echoing the extremists on fringe platforms, posters on mainstream platforms are sharing a range of conspiracy theories. On Reddit, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, posters have called coverage of the coronavirus a hoax and a distraction designed to frighten the public or hurt Republican electoral prospects before the 2020 election, while others are arguing that the virus’s impact is far worse than authorities want people to think.
Meanwhile, conspiracies about the origins of the coronavirus are proliferating on Facebook, Reddit, YouTube and Twitter, where some assert that the virus was created as a profit driver by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or by Bill Gates. Other users posit that the coronavirus is a Chinese biological weapon, though they differ on whether it was intentionally or accidentally released, and some suggest that the virus was manufactured by the United States and/or Israel as a biological weapon to target geopolitical rivals such as China and Iran.
People are using the coronavirus to further their political agendas: users on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are claiming the virus is a tool for authorities and pharmaceutical companies to get people to accept vaccinations, while rumors on Facebook and Twitter suggest that Wuhan residents’ immune systems were weakened by 5G wireless networks, leaving them susceptible to the virus. Meanwhile, posters on Facebook and Twitter worry that the U.S. government will use the virus to impose martial law.
These conspiracies pollute information systems with lies, making it more difficult for people to understand what is actually happening and elevating people’s fear and anxiety levels.
Users on these mainstream platforms are also spreading bigoted messages. Many are sharing racist posts that denigrate Chinese habits and customs or blame the Chinese people for spreading the disease, using hashtags like “kungflu” and “batsoup.”
Similarly, people are using coronavirus news as an opportunity to disparage Jews on social media. After news broke that George Washington University had quarantined students who attended this year’s AIPAC Policy Conference, some students reported they were being harassed on Twitter — and even in person - with antisemitic messages. Other Twitter and Facebook accounts continued to echo the extremist rhetoric found on fringe platforms, accusing Jews and/or Israel of creating the virus to kill non-Jews or so that they can profit from the vaccine.
Individuals on Facebook and Twitter are also using the virus to advance anti-immigration rhetoric, arguing that until the virus is contained, the U.S. should end immigration and expand the travel ban to keep Americans safe. This online sentiment has made its way into the physical world, with a rise in racist, anti-Chinese incidents and a protest outside Sacramento International Airport.
The online response to the emergence of the coronavirus is just the latest example of how extremists and conspiracy theorists manipulate social media platforms to advance their agendas and spread hateful rhetoric and fear.
The articleis published courtesy of the Anti-Defamation League(ADL)
