investigated content: Posts stating that “the corrupt media say nothing”, but that a large public hearing called the Summit Covid-19 Conference with the greatest scientists, geneticists and doctors is being held in the European Parliament”. According to the content, they are “analyzing the consequences (of the pandemic) for human health and announcing that the covid-19 vaccines were a hoax and are really a biological weapon”.
where it was published: Telegram and Twitter.
Conclusion of Comprova: It is false that a conference on covid-19 in which “the greatest scientists, geneticists and doctors” announced that vaccines are a farce and a biological weapon was held by the European Parliament.
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Posts with the content went viral with the same text and, although there really was an event about covid in the European Union body, it was not organized by Parliament, but by five of the 705 deputies. All five politicians are known denialists – Romanian Cristian Terhes, German Christine Anderson, Italian Francesca Donato and Croatians Ivan Vilibor Sinčić and Mislav Kolakušić.
In Parliament’s agenda, there is only a record of a press conference to present the results of the event, lasting 30 minutes.
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The “experts” who participated are also denialists, including some who have already been classified as disinformers by checking agencies. David Martin, for example, has already been the target of at least three checks. Among them are two from Reuters: “The RNA vaccine against the coronavirus is a vaccine, and was made to prevent disease” and “Research papers have presented evidence of airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2″ and one from Factcheck.org: “New ‘Plandemic’ video brings misinformation and conspiracies”.
In one, he is described as a “financial analyst and self-help entrepreneur who has a YouTube channel that promotes some conspiracy theories”.
By questioning the safety and effectiveness of covid vaccines, they are going against globally respected organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), from United States.
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They also ignore reality, since it was with the start of mass vaccination that the pandemic began to slow down.
False, for Comprova, is content that was invented or that has been edited to change its original meaning and deliberately disseminated to spread a falsehood.
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publication reach: Comprova investigates suspicious content with greater reach on social networks. Only one of the verified tweets here had more than 6,500 views as of May 19.
How do we check: Comprova started the investigation based on the image of the event shared by the website published in one of the lying tweets. The image showed the official link to the event, as well as the photos and names of the alleged authorities who participated in this conference, in addition to stamps from the European parliament and the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group – in free translation into Portuguese: ‘Europeus Conservatives and Reformists’.
The page also had two videos, one of the so-called “science authorities” and another of the parliamentarians who participated in the event. On both, the name of the speakers was explained. In the first, the mention of vaccines as biological weapons was credited to “Dr. David Martin and Dr. Rosana Chifari”. In the case of parliamentarians, the speakers were also listed on the website.
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With that, the report sought who these “doctors” would be. With a simple Google search for their name and the word “fake” the report found checks from international vehicles mostly about covid-19 and vaccines. In addition to the articles denying David Martin, one was found about Chifari from the Italian vehicle Open: “Coronavirus, the studies cited to the Senate by the Hippocratic Movement do not prove the effectiveness of ivermectin”.
Also in an attempt to understand the relations of the “scientists” with the European Parliament, Comprova searched for their names on the institution’s official website. As a result, it appeared that deputy Ivan Vilibor Sinčić had retweeted misinformation propagated by David Martin about covid-19. As for Chifari, nothing was found in the search.
The investigation also looked for those named as Conference participants in the list of Members of the European Parliament. All were deputies.
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Finally, watching the video, the report noticed the ECR seal on the panel placed behind the speakers. To find out if the event had a direct link or funding from the political group, a mention of the political core was searched on the official website of the Third International Covid Summit (ICS3) – nothing was found. The same was done on the official website of the European Conservatives and Reformists – also without success.
The ECR was contacted by Comprova by email, but did not respond at the time of publication of this article.
What the person responsible for the publication says: The report searched the @tucabr54 and @SelvaBrasilOficial profiles, but did not receive a response until the publication of this text.
What can we learn from this check: Content verified here uses the name European Parliament to make what they are sharing official, but links to an obscure blog to provide more information about the aforementioned event. If it were true that the European Parliament claimed that vaccines against covid are biological weapons, this information would be in the world’s main media and not just on a blog. In cases like this, ask questions about the content and try to answer them. If only five MPs are inviting to an event, is it possible to understand it as being a Parliament event? If the world’s most respected institutions in the health area guarantee that immunizers are safe, should I believe a post from an obscure Brazilian blog? Why is the link offered not the one for the European Parliament? When in doubt, search for more information in media you trust.
Also be wary of posts that use gimmicks to disguise the monitoring of verification efforts. The verified post refers to the immunization as “vachina,” a common tactic in anti-vaccine publications and those seeking to evade monitoring tools.
why do we investigate: Comprova monitors suspicious content posted on social networks and messaging apps about public policies and elections at the federal level and opens investigations for those publications that have achieved greater reach and engagement. You can also suggest checks via WhatsApp +55 11 97045-4984.
Other checks on the topic: Vaccines against covid-19 are a frequent subject of Comprova checks. Only in the last few days did the project publish that the deputy repeats misleading claims about their ineffectiveness and that they do not have viruses and “cancer” fungi, contrary to what alleges in a video shared on social networks.
Tags: false European Parliament classified vaccine covid19 biological weapon
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