Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series of articles about trust in medical science. Previous articles explored the forces behind the credibility crisis, how communication about science can cause public confusion, and the factors that compel people to believe medical misinformation.
The first COVID-19 lie that the man posted on social media drew only three likes: “Coronavirus tests are not very reliable, so the official numbers of infections and deaths are based on faulty data.”
Boring. A guide from a web community devoted to coronavirus disinformation sent the newcomer advice about how to stir things up: “Just sharing scientific-sounding content about coronavirus isn’t going to do the trick.” The man needed to build credibility for his messages, and “credibility is easy to fake.”
The guide helped the man fabricate an expert in his next post: “Dr. Hyde T. Payne, a renowned health authority at the University of Life who has worked on the government’s COVID taskforce, says that there have been no deaths actually caused by COVID!”
That drew more than 3,000 likes, and the likes grew exponentially with each new lie. After the man posted footage of a street riot — falsely claiming it was a protest against “Big Pharma” for...
Over the last year, beyond traditional healthcare and federal procurement matters, the government has pursued federal False Claims Act (FCA) investigations and enforcement across high-risk areas, ...