Headlines For Nov. 18, 2021​

As misinformation spread on social media and at official press conferences, British Columbia’s public safety minister struggled to defend why the province continues to reject a powerful communication tool widely used in emergency situations across the rest of the country.

Last week’s COVID protest outside parliament served as a warning that New Zealand is not immune to the kinds of anger seen overseas. As Labour Party whip Kieran McAnulty put it, “I think everyone needs to be aware that things are starting to escalate.”

University of Utah Health doctors are discussing how misinformation has led people to decline COVID-19 vaccines, reject public health measures, and use unproven treatments. The nation’s trust in public health has significantly gone down during the pandemic. And U of U Health doctors are seeing this happening all too often. Research from the National Institutes of Health found misinformation and fake news during the COVID-19 pandemic has generated confusion and insecurity for people.

An indictment unsealed Thursday in New York charges two Iranians with a cyber-enabled disinformation and threat campaign aiming to sway the 2020 presidential election in Donald Trump‘s favor.

A fact-checking media in Mali has identified false claims of child harvesting in Nigeria – so-called “baby factories”. The claim that the images in question are recent is bogus, but a real phenomenon of child harvesting does exist in Nigeria. Also, a Canadian media dramatically claimed that the wife of Pfizer’s CEO died due to the Covid-19 vaccine. In fact, she is alive and well.