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Don't be fooled by misinformation

March 24, 2020 Providence News Team

 

 

Coronavirus Misinformation Tracking Center

As a new strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 spreads across the globe, so does disinformation and misinformation. Follow the spread of this dangerous information with NewsGuard’s new Coronavirus Misinformation Tracking Center.

Listed below are all the news and information sites in the U.S., the U.K., France, Italy, and Germany that we have identified — 136 so far — as publishing materially false information about the virus. You’ll find websites that are notorious for publishing false health content, and political sites whose embrace of conspiracy theories extends well beyond politics. Among the hoaxes these sites publish are that swallowing bleach or colloidal silver will prevent the coronavirus — when in fact these “treatments” can be harmful. Troublingly, you’ll also see some sites that generally stick to the facts but in this case have published unvetted, poorly sourced stories that turned out to be false.

To read our full review of each website, click on its name to see its NewsGuard Nutrition Label (some labels include highlighted sections of coronavirus-related content).

Needless to say, this is a work in progress about a story that has new developments daily. If you have come across a false story about the COVID-19 virus on a site we have not listed below, please report it here or contact us via our misinformation hotline.

For more information about NewsGuard’s approach to tracking coronavirus misinformation, read this piece on the topic from our lead health analyst, listen to this story on NPR, or watch this segment with the BBC.

For reliable information on the COVID-19 virus, consult the websites of public health institutions such as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization.

Websites Publishing False Coronavirus Information:
Listed By Country (in alphabetical order)

United States

United Kingdom

France

Italy

Germany

Other

Last updated March 23, 2020

Corrections: A previous version of this page erroneously included LeMediaPourTous.fr. NewsGuard apologizes for the error. Earlier, a previous version of this page erroneously included EpochTimes.de. It also incorrectly referred to the new strain of coronavirus as COVID-19. According to technical guidance from the World Health Organization, the virus itself is known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). COVID-19 is the disease caused by the virus. NewsGuard apologizes for the errors.

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