The casualties of this year's viral conspiracy theories

By Marianna SpringSpecialist disinformation reporterPublishedduration2 hours agoimage copyrightFacebookimage captionBrian with his wife Erin, who died after contracting Covid-19Conspiracy theories ripped through the internet this year, destroying relationships and endangering lives.The flurry of online falsehoods about coronavirus began as soon as the pandemic hit.Misleading pictures suggesting tanks were rolling down village streets and lists of false diagnostic tips were frantically forwarded on WhatsApp.As luck would have it, I had just begun my job reporting on the impact of online disinformation.With the help of a BBC team of experts, I got to work looking into the spread of one really viral post. image copyrightGetty Imagesimage captionA protester’s sign casts doubt on Covid-19’s existence at a demonstration in California in MayAt first glance, the post seemed legitimate, because the information was attributed to a trusted source: a doctor, an institution, or well-educated “uncle”. It hopped across Facebook profiles around the world, translated into Italian, Arabic and a dozen other languages. Votes, viruses, victims: 2020 in disinformationA special programme from the BBC Trending team. But along with useful information like “wash your hands”, it listed false cures and phony diagnostic tests.One of the people most responsible for its online spread was an 84-year-old pensioner…
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