Countering the Infodemic: Experts like Sell divide misinformation into four different categories:
False cures. Influencers on social media have been promoting a “miracle mineral supplement” to cure coronavirus that, in actuality, contains dilute bleach, a known toxin.
Conspiracies. Accusations that the virus may have originated in a bioweapons lab from any number of countries have emerged on Twitter, despite conclusive evidence from scientists that SARS-CoV-2 has a natural origin.
Scapegoating. Some media outlets and politicians continue to refer to SARS-CoV-2 as the “Chinese virus” or “Chinese disease.”
Misinformation about the disease. In the early days of the pandemic, some politicians and intelligence officials dismissed COVID-19 as “just the flu,” despite data from Wuhan, China, showing otherwise.
