US ran secret anti-vax campaign to undermine China’s COVID efforts: Report
14 Jun 2024The US military’s anti-vax effort began in the spring of 2020 and expanded beyond Southeast Asia before it was terminated in mid-2021.
The Pentagon tailored the campaign to local audiences across Central Asia and the Middle East using a combination of fake social media accounts on multiple platforms to spread fear of China’s vaccines among Muslims at a time when the virus was killing tens of thousands of people each day.
A key part of the strategy: amplify the disputed contention that, because vaccines sometimes contain pork gelatin, China’s shots could be considered forbidden under Islamic law.
The military programme started under former President Donald Trump and continued months into Joe Biden’s presidency – even after alarmed social media executives warned the new administration that the Pentagon had been trafficking in COVID misinformation, Reuters said.