• Send Us A Tip
  • Calling all Tech Writers
  • Advertise
Sunday, July 20, 2025
  • Login
TechStory
  • News
  • Crypto
  • Gadgets
  • Memes
  • Gaming
  • Cars
  • AI
  • Startups
  • Markets
  • How to
No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Crypto
  • Gadgets
  • Memes
  • Gaming
  • Cars
  • AI
  • Startups
  • Markets
  • How to
No Result
View All Result
TechStory
No Result
View All Result
Home News

COVID came from Maine lobsters, says Twitter accounts linked to China

by Aashish Sehrawat
October 23, 2021
in News, Popular, Trending, World
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
COVID came from Maine lobsters, says Twitter accounts linked to China

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

TwitterWhatsappLinkedin
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Twitter accounts linked to China were detected circulating false information regarding COVID-19’s origins, including claims that the virus arrived in Wuhan via a cargo of Maine lobsters.

You might also like

RFK Jr.’s Plan to Overhaul the U.S. Vaccine Injury Program Sparks Alarm Across Health Sector

GenAI Takes Center Stage in Netflix Shows and Films

Jio Financial Services and Allianz Group Ink 50:50 Reinsurance Joint Venture Deal

When Oxford scholar Marcel Schliebs spotted a tweet from Zha Liyou, the Chinese consul general in Kolkata, India, he became aware of the misinformation campaign.

At the Oxford Internet Institute, Schliebs researches disinformation, propaganda, and controversial political news content in the UK online information environment. He traced the message to hundreds of Twitter accounts, some legitimate and others not, all of which were disseminating pro-China propaganda.

The tweet by Liyou said:

“Major suspect of covid via cold chain identified: A MU298 of Nov. 11, 2019 carrying food from Maine, US to Huanan Seafood Market, Wuhan, Hubei via Shanghai. During the next few weeks, many workers around moving this batch of seafood got infected.”

According to Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, these tales disseminated by China-linked accounts are nothing new.

“Early in the pandemic, Chinese sources spread the theory that SARS CoV-2 originated at Fort Detrick and was spread to China by U.S. military,” says Jamieson. “The platforms can remove it, or if they decide against doing so, can downgrade it or flag it and attach fact-checking content.”

Similar findings from Schliebs’ Oxford research are echoed by him.

“Almost since the beginning of the outbreak, the question of the origin of COVID has been of core importance to the Chinese propaganda apparatus,” Schliebs says. “This coordinated operation was clearly trying to promote narratives in line with Beijing’s general propaganda strategy and geopolitical objectives.”

Twitter has put rigorous guidelines in place to combat COVID misinformation, noting in its rules and standards that any content that is obviously false or misleading is prohibited and will be removed. Certain posts may be flagged as false, and persistent offenders will have their accounts deactivated.

According to Twitter’s standards, the offences include attempts to “invoke a deliberate conspiracy by malicious and/or powerful forces.”

Misinformation has the potential to have a significant impact on how people respond to public health advice.

“Acceptance of misinformation and/or conspiracy theories is associated with a reduced likelihood to mask or vaccinate,” Jamieson says.

Kai Yan, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the U.K., told NBC that China urges “all members of the international community to work together in opposing and resisting such disinformation, which will inevitably disrupt global cooperation in fighting the pandemic.”

The accounts linked to misinformation were suspended after Schliebs forwarded the information to Twitter.

“We notified Twitter last week, and they were very responsive and suspended the accounts very rapidly within a few hours. Fortunately, we detected the campaign as it was still in its early growth phase and before it could really start to reach and impact real genuine audiences,” Schliebs told USA TODAY.

 

Tags: chionacovid19propagandatwitter
Tweet54SendShare15
Previous Post

Razer’s futuristic Zephyr mask is available today, starting at $99.99

Next Post

Chip shortages may wipe out holiday PC sales, Intel warns

Aashish Sehrawat

Recommended For You

RFK Jr.’s Plan to Overhaul the U.S. Vaccine Injury Program Sparks Alarm Across Health Sector

by Anochie Esther
July 20, 2025
0
Kennedy

Five months into his tenure as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has set his sights on a quiet but critical pillar of...

Read more

GenAI Takes Center Stage in Netflix Shows and Films

by Sneha Singh
July 20, 2025
0
GenAI Takes Center Stage in Netflix Shows and Films

Netflix has achieved an unpublicized milestone that could change the manner in which movies and television are made. The streaming giant announced Thursday that it successfully used artificial...

Read more

Jio Financial Services and Allianz Group Ink 50:50 Reinsurance Joint Venture Deal

by Anochie Esther
July 20, 2025
0
JFSL

In a landmark move poised to reshape India's insurance landscape, Jio Financial Services Ltd (JFSL) and Germany-based Allianz Group have entered into a binding agreement to form a...

Read more
Next Post
Chip shortages may wipe out holiday PC sales, Intel warns

Chip shortages may wipe out holiday PC sales, Intel warns

Please login to join discussion

Techstory

Tech and Business News from around the world. Follow along for latest in the world of Tech, AI, Crypto, EVs, Business Personalities and more.
reach us at [email protected]

Advertise With Us

Reach out at - [email protected]

BROWSE BY TAG

#Crypto #howto 2024 acquisition AI amazon Apple Artificial Intelligence bitcoin Business China cryptocurrency e-commerce electric vehicles Elon Musk Ethereum facebook funding Gaming Google India Instagram Investment ios iPhone IPO Market Markets Meta Microsoft News NFT samsung Social Media SpaceX startup startups tech technology Tesla TikTok trend trending twitter US

© 2024 Techstory.in

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Crypto
  • Gadgets
  • Memes
  • Gaming
  • Cars
  • AI
  • Startups
  • Markets
  • How to

© 2024 Techstory.in

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?