Via disinforeview@euvsdisinfo.eu
5 March 2020
TRENDS OF THE WEEK
Coronavirus meets Hollywood
While the volume of disinformation cases about the coronavirus levelled off this week, their creativity did not disappoint. Besides the now-customary claims that the virus is a US biological weapon that has been deployed against China, intentionally spread by US soldiers on Trump’s orders, numerous pro-Kremlin outlets also reported that the famous actor and martial artist Jackie Chan had contracted the virus at a private party and is presently under quarantine.
The Hollywood references didn’t stop there: disinformation outlets jumped on the opportunity to exploit the popular parallels now being made to the 2011 movie “Contagion”, which tells the story of a fictional pandemic – coincidentally of a virus transmitted from animals to humans – that kills 26 million people in a single month. But RT took this comparison a step further, claiming that the film is evidence that the coronavirus is in fact an American invention and designed to selectively target America’s enemies.
Pro-Kremlin outlets accuse others of exaggerating the threat of the coronavirus and triggering mass panic. The irony, of course, is that they are pushing that very agenda themselves by deliberately spreading conspiracy theories and false information to sow chaos and fear....
