Plandemic

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Plandemic is a 26-minute conspiracy theory video released in May 2020 that promotes a variety of falsehoods and misinformation regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.[1][2] The film was produced by Mikki Willis's California-based production company Elevate, which has produced other conspiracist videos in the past.[2] The producers of the video state that it is a trailer for an upcoming full-length documentary film in Summer 2020.[1][2] The video stars discredited former medical researcher turned anti-vaccination activist Judy Mikovits.[3]

Promoted by conspiracy theorists, the video spread rapidly and virally on social media, garnering millions of views,[4][5][6] making it "one of the most widespread pieces of coronavirus misinformation."[6] The video was removed by various platforms, including Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, and Twitter, over its misleading content and promotion of false information.[1][5][6]

Synopsis

The video presents the conspiracist claim that vaccines are "a money-making enterprise that causes medical harm".[4] It takes the form of an interview between Willis and Mikovits in which Mikovits makes numerous unsupported or false claims around coronavirus, and her own controversial history.[2] Fact-checker Politifact highlighted eight false or misleading claims made in the video, including:[2]

  • That Mikovits was held in jail without charge. Mikovits was briefly held on remand after an accusation of theft from her former employer, the Whittemore Peterson Institute, but charges were dropped. There is no evidence to support her claim that notebooks removed from the Institute were "planted" or that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and its director Anthony Fauci bribed investigators. A NIAID spokesman stated: "The National Institutes of Health and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases are focused on critical research aimed at ending the COVID-19 pandemic and preventing further deaths," a spokesperson said in a statement. "We are not engaging in tactics by some seeking to derail our efforts."
  • That the virus was manipulated. An article in Nature analyses the likely origins and finds that "Our analyses clearly show that SARS-CoV-2 is not a laboratory construct or a purposefully manipulated virus".[7]
  • That the virus occurred from SARS 1 within a decade and that this is inconsistent with natural causes. This is incorrect: SARS-CoV-2 is similar but unrelated to SARS-CoV (SARS-1), with only 79% genetic similarity.[8]
  • That hospitals receive "$13,000 from Medicare if you call it COVID-19" when a patient dies. This claim, which had previously been promoted by The American Spectator and WorldNetDaily,[9] was rated "half true" by Politifact[10] and Snopes:[11] payments are made but the amount is open to dispute and there is no evidence that this influences diagnosis and in fact the evidence suggests that COVID-19 is, if anything, under-diagnosed.[12]
  • That hydroxychloroquine is ‘effective against these families of viruses’. This claim originates with work by Didier Raoult, which has subsequently received a "statement of concern" from the editors of the journal in which it was published.[13][14] An NIH study failed to show any benefit and an increased risk of cardiac death from taking hydroxychloroquine.[15]
  • That flu vaccines increase the chance of contracting COVID-19 by 36%. This claim is false.[16][17] The claim originates in a disputed paper that predates the COVID-19 pandemic and the claim that the flu vaccine increases the chance of contracting COVID-19 by 36% does not appear in the original paper at all, but was added by the website disabledveterans.org.[17]
  • That "if you’ve ever had a flu vaccine, you were injected with coronaviruses". This has also been debunked,[18][19] the flu shot contains no coronaviruses.[20]
  • That "wearing the mask literally activates your own virus. You’re getting sick from your own reactivated coronavirus expressions." This claim is incoherent and unsupported by evidence. Masks prevent airborne transmission of the virus especially during the asymptomatic period (up to 14 days) when carriers may not even be aware they have the disease.[21]

Mikovits also alludes to a number of anti-vaccine conspiracy theories regarding Bill Gates and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, notably the idea that Gates is implicated in creating the disease in order to profit from an eventual vaccine,[4] and makes false and unsupported claims that beaches should remain open as "healing microbes in the saltwater" and "sequences" in the sand can "protect against the coronavirus".[4]

Willis' previous credits include numerous conspiracy theorist videos[2] as well as cinematography on Neurons to Nirvana, a film making therapeutic claims about psychedelic drugs.

Reception

Scientists and public health experts condemned the film for promoting misinformation and "a hodgepodge of conspiracy theories".[22][23][24] Many physicians and scientists responded to debunk the film's claims. Claire Spellberg suggests Dr. Zubin Damania's three-minute video, A Doctor Reacts to Plandemic, has been the most viewed: "Damania shuts down the 'garbage conspiracy nonsense' and highlights one of Dr. Mikovits' discredited scientific studies."[25]

Science journalist Tara Haelle described the film as propaganda, and posited that the film "has been extremely successful at promoting misinformation for three reasons": (1) "it taps into people's uncertainty, anxiety and need for answers"; (2) "it is packaged very professionally and uses common conventions people already associate with factual documentaries"; and (3) "it successfully exploits ancient but extremely effective methods of persuasion".[26]

See also

  • Vaxxed, another film promoting a discredited anti-vaccinationist.

References

  1. ^ a b c Andrews, Travis M (May 7, 2020). "Facebook and other companies are removing viral 'Plandemic' conspiracy video". Washington Post.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Daniel Funke (May 8, 2020). "Fact-checking 'Plandemic': A documentary full of false conspiracy theories about the coronavirus". PolitiFact.
  3. ^ Greg Pickel (2020-05-07). "Who is Judy Mikovits, and what does she have to do with Anthony Fauci and the coronavirus?". PennLive.com. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  4. ^ a b c d Taylor Hatmaker (May 7, 2020). "Platforms scramble as 'Plandemic' conspiracy video spreads misinformation like wildfire". TechCrunch.
  5. ^ a b Megan Graham (May 7, 2020). "Platforms scramble as 'Plandemic' conspiracy video spreads misinformation like wildfire". CNBC.
  6. ^ a b c Brandy Zadrozny & Ben Collins (May 7, 2020). "As '#Plandemic' goes viral, those targeted by discredited scientist's crusade warn of 'dangerous' claims". NBC News.
  7. ^ Andersen, Kristian G.; Rambaut, Andrew; Lipkin, W. Ian; Holmes, Edward C.; Garry, Robert F. (April 2020). "The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2". Nature Medicine. 26 (4): 450–452. doi:10.1038/s41591-020-0820-9. ISSN 1546-170X.
  8. ^ Lu, Roujian; Zhao, Xiang; Li, Juan; Niu, Peihua; Yang, Bo; Wu, Honglong; Wang, Wenling; Song, Hao; Huang, Baoying; Zhu, Na; Bi, Yuhai (2020-02-22). "Genomic characterisation and epidemiology of 2019 novel coronavirus: implications for virus origins and receptor binding". The Lancet. 395 (10224): 565–574. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30251-8. ISSN 0140-6736. PMID 32007145.
  9. ^ Rogers, Michelle. "Fact check: Hospitals get paid more if patients listed as COVID-19, on ventilators". Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  10. ^ Tom Kertscher (April 21, 2020). "Fact-check: Hospitals and COVID-19 payments". PolitiFact.
  11. ^ "Is Medicare Paying Hospitals $13K for Patients Diagnosed with COVID-19, $39K for Those on Ventilators?". Snopes.com. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  12. ^ Richardson, Ian. "Fact check: Is US coronavirus death toll inflated? Experts agree it's likely the opposite". Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  13. ^ "Hydroxychloroquine-COVID-19 study did not meet publishing society's "expected standard"". retractionwatch.com. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  14. ^ "Journal Publisher Concerned over Hydroxychloroquine Study". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  15. ^ "NIH Panel Recommends Against Drug Combination Promoted By Trump For COVID-19". Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  16. ^ Fichera, Angelo (2020-04-27). "No Evidence That Flu Shot Increases Risk of COVID-19". FactCheck.org. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  17. ^ a b "Claim that flu vaccine increases coronavirus infection is unsupported, misinterprets scientific studies". Health Feedback. 2020-03-30. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  18. ^ Richardson, Ian. "Fact check: Getting flu shot doesn't make you more (or less) likely to get the coronavirus". Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  19. ^ "False claim: The flu vaccine causes the new coronavirus". Reuters. 2020-04-15. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  20. ^ CDC (2020-04-28). "Key Facts About Seasonal Flu Vaccine". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  21. ^ Desai, Angel N.; Aronoff, David M. (2020-04-17). "Masks and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)". JAMA. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.6437.
  22. ^ Graham, Megan (2020-05-07). "Facebook, YouTube and other platforms are struggling to remove new pandemic conspiracy video". CNBC. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  23. ^ "As '#Plandemic' goes viral, those targeted by discredited scientist's crusade warn of 'dangerous' claims". NBC News. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  24. ^ Shepherd, Marshall. "Why People Cling To Conspiracy Theories Like 'Plandemic'". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  25. ^ Spellberg, Claire. "What Is 'Plandemic', A Conspiracy Documentary With A Hidden Agenda?". Decider. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  26. ^ Haelle, Tara (May 8, 2020). "Why It's Important To Push Back On 'Plandemic'—And How To Do It". Forbes.

External links

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