A previous video detailing conspiracy theories about the current COVID-19 pandemic has been hunted down and removed. The effort proved futile, as the 26-minute documentary-style show that was named "Plandemic" had already garnered several million views in only a matter of days.
The immediate spread of the video like wildfire reveals the shortcoming of social media and tech platforms in checking for credibility within the content that is shared within them.
Doubt within the panic
The video, created by virologist and anti-vaccine activist Judy Mikovits, shows her explaining several, albeit questionable, theories about the coronavirus. The video gained an immediate massive audience from Facebook groups that share the same anti-vaccine sentiments and are skeptical of stay-at-home orders from the government.
According to AP News, Mikovits' baseless claims that the virus was human-made inside a laboratory and that it is injected into humans through vaccinations and that face masks trigger the infection, raised an army of social media users to be suspicious of the actual risk of the pandemic.
Mikovits also claimed that the head of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Anthony Fauci, is to blame for the deaths of millions in the first phases of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
The virologist also states in the video she was a member of the team that discovered the HIV, produced the treatment, and was wrongly imprisoned due to her scientific position.
Also Read: Fauci Cautions on US Reopening, Says It Could Cause More Deaths
The truth behind the facade
Science Mag reported that Science fact-checked Mikovits' video and found that none of what she claimed were true. Several social media platforms and video streaming services have taken down the video due to its inaccuracies, and yet it keeps resurfacing as users share and upload it repeatedly.
One post from a private group on Facebook named "Reopen California" read, "The other video has already been deleted by YouTube. Let's get it to another million! Modern-day book burning at its finest."
A professor of digital media at Carnegie Mellon Unversity, Ari Lightman, said that once it is available, the video would have an infinite lifespan.
Mikovits has several books on Amazon, two of which quickly became best-sellers in a matter of days. Audio from "Plandemic" had also been aired on conservative radio talk show hosts and several podcasts.
The sudden popularity of the virologist came nearly a decade after she proposed a theory that a virus known as XMRV, found in mice, is to blame for chronic fatigue syndrome. Her findings, however, were unable to be recreated by other scientists.
What came after included her removal from the medical institute she worked at and her arrest for felony charges of theft of computer equipment and data that belonged to her previous employer, which contradicts her recent claim that she was arrested with no charges.
The effort tech companies and social media platforms have done to remove all evidence of the fraudulent video have caused several more conspiracy videos to pop-up, claiming the removal of such videos is a cover-up about the truth behind the coronavirus. This places into question the capability of these platforms in checking content for credibility and accuracy.
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