1/5 The worst enemy during a pandemic often isn't the disease itself but the #propaganda & #disinformation around it.
Take the 1918 Influenza Epidemic.
In order to keep morale high during WWI, Germany, the UK, France, & the US lied about it. washingtonpost.com/history/2020/0…
Take the 1918 Influenza Epidemic.
In order to keep morale high during WWI, Germany, the UK, France, & the US lied about it. washingtonpost.com/history/2020/0…
2/5 As hospitals were overloaded, army camps decimated, & deaths mounted, governments lied to prevent a panic.
But papers were free to report the epidemic's effects in neutral Spain, making it seem that Spain was especially hard hit.
Thus it became the "Spanish Flu."
But papers were free to report the epidemic's effects in neutral Spain, making it seem that Spain was especially hard hit.
Thus it became the "Spanish Flu."
3/5 The 1918 influenza pandemic infected 500 MILLION people, 27% of the world's population. Between 40M and 50M died.
The small pockets where deaths were low. such as Oregon, were saved by one of the best medicines available: information. oregonlive.com/history/2020/0…
The small pockets where deaths were low. such as Oregon, were saved by one of the best medicines available: information. oregonlive.com/history/2020/0…
4/5 While Oregon enforced quarantines, jailed doctors failing to report cases, & kept the press informed, Philadelphia held a parade of 200k people to support the war.
The City of Brotherly Love lost 12,000 people in 6 weeks.
3,500 Oregonians died during the whole epidemic.
The City of Brotherly Love lost 12,000 people in 6 weeks.
3,500 Oregonians died during the whole epidemic.
5/5 Will we allow a repeat of this tragedy with the #coronavirus because our government is lying to us again?
It is time to demand not just real action, but real information, because #propaganda and #disinformation could kill millions.
newyorker.com/news/daily-com… via @NewYorker
It is time to demand not just real action, but real information, because #propaganda and #disinformation could kill millions.
newyorker.com/news/daily-com… via @NewYorker
When people don't get tested, things spread. When will we learn from history?
1/2 By the by, the U.S.'s propaganda response was supported by the law, as the Sedition Act of 1918, meant to be used against anti-war activists, was soon turned toward those attempting to report the truth of the flu epidemic.
history.com/this-day-in-hi…
history.com/this-day-in-hi…
2/2 How the Horrific 1918 Flu Spread Across America
The toll of history’s worst epidemic surpasses all the military deaths in World War I and World War II combined. And it may have begun in the United States smithsonianmag.com/history/journa…
The toll of history’s worst epidemic surpasses all the military deaths in World War I and World War II combined. And it may have begun in the United States smithsonianmag.com/history/journa…
