Thread by @PirateOrg

A note on the deliberate spread of baseless, unverified information in the age of #covid19 and the contribution of high-reputation journalists and media to this trend.

Example:

"China is lying, #COVID19 killed 45,000 people in Wuhan, not 2,535"

***THREAD***

People on social media started counting ash urns processed by Wuhan funeral homes during lockdown, estimated it was ~45,000

Officials said 2,535 died from #covid19

(Obvious) problem:
Not everyone dies of #covid19 over a 3 month period in a city of ~20 million (metro area)

In fact, the baseline number of deaths in Wuhan (not #covid19 related) over a "normal" 3-month period should be between 35,000 and 55,000

But who cares?

Someone "counted" ash urns and these urns must all be #covid19 related, therefore it's all a bunch of lies

the rumor started being spread by a high-reputation journalist working for high-reputation news outlets:

https://twitter.com/eileenguo/status/1244296947705364480

the journalist acknowledges in a secondary message buried in a thread that "maybe" not every death is due to #covid19

"maybe"

the tweet goes viral

there is no solid evidence backing the claims behind the government cover-up

no investigation or verification by the journalist

(I personally do not know the true numbers... but I can tell when a story is based on a misleading, inconsistent observation and no other evidence)

the next day, major media outlets report on the same story, without more evidence backing it:

In France: lemonde.fr/international/…

In the US:
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Etc.

The viral spread of this baseless story is fueled by:
1. Anti-China *prejudices* (and I am being polite)
2. US chauvinism ("America is great, can't have more deaths than others!")

(AGAIN: I'm not saying there is no gov't lie; I just can't know based on this baseless report)

Now, I doubt that very smart journalists working for very prestigious media outlets are unaware of what they're doing here...

Spreading baseless, unverified reports that they know will go viral (i.e. benefit them) because they feed off prejudice, chauvinism and conspiracy theory

What is relatively new, these days, is to see mainstream, high-reputation media engage in these practices.

This is extremely worrisome

It seems deliberate, too

And it's clear that some of these media outlets, though on the left wing, spread reports catering to the right wing

If you read the comments below the original viral tweet by @eileenguo

https://twitter.com/eileenguo/status/1244296947705364480

a lot of them are prejudiced

a few flag the inconsistency but no one cares (in particular, the journalist doesn't care)

conspiracy theories of all kinds feed off the story

I will keep an eye for new information on this. Perhaps the Chinese government lied and 45,000 died of #covid19 in Wuhan.

I just have not seen any evidence at this point.

/// LA FIN

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