Misleading healthcare information, dangerous hoaxes, outlandish conspiracy theories, and consumer fraud. All of these things are threats to public health in normal times.
And with the covid-19 pandemic spreading across the globe, we are not — to say the least — living in normal times.
The European Union has uncovered a series of disinformation campaigns from hostile foreign actors such as Russia and China. Among the claims: drinking bleach or pure alcohol can cure the novel coronavirus, covid-19 is an infection caused by elites to reduce population growth, and that 5G installations are spreading the virus.
This isn’t just trolling. It’s costing lives.
Listen to the Power Vertical Podcast as Brian Whitmore is joined by CEPA’s President and CEO Dr. Alina Polyakova and the European Union official who is fighting this campaign on the front lines, Lutz Guellner, head of the Strategic Communications Division at the European External Action Service.
Intro Audio Clip: “Message from the President to the Federal Assembly” by the President of Russia under CC BY 4.0.
The Power Vertical is a CEPA podcast covering the Kremlin for Kremlin watchers. All opinions are those of the guests and do not necessarily represent the position or views of the institutions they represent or the Center for European Policy Analysis.
