A secret U.S. military anti-vaccine operation, which began under former President Donald Trump and continued into the early months of President Joe Biden's administration, spread COVID-19 misinformation, according to a Reuters investigation. The operation used disguised messages targeting Muslim audiences in Central Asia and the Middle East, falsely claiming that China’s COVID vaccines contained pork, thus fueling fears about their permissibility under religious rules. Health experts assert that this campaign endangered lives and contributed to global vaccine hesitancy. Despite warnings from social media executives, the Pentagon persisted with the misinformation campaign, aiming to sow doubt about vaccines made by rivals as thousands continued to die from the virus.
“It was illegal when Trump did it, and it is no less illegal now.” Earlier: More migrants are being stranded at the U.S.-Mexico border under Biden's executive order. https://t.co/5RtYL7Nkrx
This is despicable and indefensible if true. What interests me is: what is the MAGA knee jerk response? Reasons they may like it: started under Trump, targeted vaccines, targeted China. OTOH, continued under Biden, deep state/military op. https://t.co/zBpgAQZBIN
What did I just read? “We didn’t do a good job sharing vaccines with partners,” a senior U.S. military officer directly involved in the campaign in Southeast Asia told Reuters. “So what was left to us was to throw shade on China’s.” https://t.co/EHjAHLMBDz
Americans may wonder why our country is so increasingly hated around the world. This kind of thing has a lot to do with it. We were willing to let Filipinos die of Covid just to eff with China. https://t.co/e7pHmfERcX
This is one of the most appalling things our government has ever done. I get the need to punish China for blaming the U.S. for the virus, but this campaign stoked vaccine hesitancy around the world, with a particular focus on Muslims. https://t.co/mzlIbn29gQ
.@Reuters reviewed hundreds of social media accounts tied to a secret US military propaganda operation that trafficked COVID misinformation, according to experts. Its aim: to sow doubt about vaccines made by rivals, even as thousands continued to die https://t.co/vMztLFC9gB https://t.co/U4kF9j7sfg
“The military program started under former President Donald Trump and continued months into Joe Biden’s presidency, Reuters found – even after alarmed social media executives warned the new administration that the Pentagon had been trafficking in COVID misinformation.” https://t.co/mzlIbn29gQ
Disguised US military messages aimed at Muslim audiences in Central Asia and Middle East claimed that China’s COVID vaccines contained pork, fueling fears about whether they were permissible under religious rules. Experts say the operation endangered lives https://t.co/iMoeBLIRK6 https://t.co/EqtLMpxtn1
A secret US military anti-vax operation that began under former US President Trump and continued into the early Biden administration contained messages with COVID misinformation, according to health experts. A @Reuters investigation reveals what happened https://t.co/6zKw7UAgUC https://t.co/gWyQ6AJLqW
This is appalling (and while it started under Trump, the article said it took months for the Biden admin to end it.) https://t.co/KS3FuquUpY