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US accuses China, Russia for virus conspiracies

The United States pointed fingers on both China and Russia for allegedly spreading false information and stories regarding the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) worldwide.
US State Department Global Engagement Center Coordinator Lea Gabrielle stressed that the two countries have been ‘shaping public understanding of the COVID pandemic’ for the benefit of their respective countries.
“Even before the COVID-19 crisis, we assessed a certain level of coordination between Russia and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the realm of propaganda. But with this pandemic the cooperation has accelerated rapidly,” alleged Gabrielle as per reports from Agence France-Presse.
Reports from the Global Engagement Center reported that thousands of social media accounts linked to Russians have been spreading conspiracies about COVID-19 which includes the allegation that the United States was behind the virus that was first detected in Wuhan.
Gabrielle alleges that China has been using bots to amplify the spread of false information, stating for instance that Chinese diplomatic Twitter accounts saw a dramatic increase in followers, from 30 daily to over 720 followers per day which she stated was a tactic that was also used by Russia.
“I think there are some examples where we have basically seen a narrative pushed out by a state actor then repeated by another one. So we’re certainly seeing them bounce off of each other and essentially play together in the information space,” said Gabrielle.
Tensions mildly came to a truce late March when US President Donald Trump had a conversation over the phone with Chinese President Xi Jinping. However, talks and conspiracies soared once again after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pushed the theory that the virus came from a laboratory in Wuhan.
The World Health Organization along with the US government’s top epidemiologist reported that there’s no clear evidence that the virus originated from the lab, as scientists reaffirm earlier reports that the virus came from a wet market for exotic animals in Wuhan.

Staff Report

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