Federation Of American Scientists

Spanish-language vaccine news stories hosting malware disseminated via URL shorteners December 10, 2020

Through link-shortening services such as bit.ly, a third-party has disseminated vaccine-related malware across Latin America.

Social Media Conversations in Support of Herd Immunity are Driven by Bots October 30, 2020

Approximately half of the profiles pushing the case for herd immunity are artificial accounts.

Most Covid Related Disinformation on Social Media Likely Emanating from Known Influencers and Traditional Media Sources October 21, 2020

An assessment of the past week’s social media environments indicates traditional media reporting by established news sources such as the New York Times and President Donald J. Trump are most influential by audience reach and volume of engagement.

Vaccine news stories hosting malware disseminated across Spanish-language Twitter September 23, 2020

News websites publishing stories on a pause in the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine trials hosted malware files. At the center of the network was the Spanish-language Sputnik News link mundo.sputniknews.com.

Global enthusiasm and American trepidation in Russian diplomatic vaccine efforts September 2, 2020

The announcement of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine, also referred to as Sputnik V, has received marginal reception in the United States. Within U.S. domestic social media conversation, Sputnik V is generally perceived as unreliable. These concerns could potentially add to preexisting skepticism towards vaccine efforts in the U.S. more generally.

Weekly COVID-19 Disinformation Report for August 14: #Plandemic to #Scamdemic August 14, 2020

Trending disinformation on an old publication taken out of context from 2005 is accelerating theories and disinformation surrounding the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19.

Weekly COVID-19 Disinformation Report for July 20: Masks, microchips, Michigan, and misinformation July 20, 2020

Apprehension and fear among Americans regarding the prospective COVID-19 vaccine persists. One of the most prolific sources of disinformation on this issue was last week’s pronouncement by Kanye West, referring to vaccines as “the mark of the beast” and claims that a COVID-19 vaccine was an attempt to “put chips inside of us.”