A study found that external articles shared on the bioweapons myth were not labeled as ‘false information’ or ‘missing context’
Highlights
- Facebook failed to label 80% of posts promoting a conspiracy theory that the US is funding the use of bioweapons in Ukraine.
- Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) studied a sample of posts from between 24 February and 14 March.
- The White House has condemned the myth, saying it may have been manufactured by Moscow to justify a possible use of chemical weapons against Ukraine.
- The myth began to spread in the early days of the war on Ukraine, amongst fringe QAnon accounts, ultimately making its way to larger platforms such as Fox News.
- Another study from Media Matters for America found YouTube had not only failed to remove videos about the biolabs theory, but had also profited off them through monetized channels.