This theory is also known as the “Great Game India” hoax because it originated on the Great Game India website, this appeals to our desire to believe bad things like pandemics don’t just happen, but rather are created by bad people.
In just a few days, this conspiracy theory was presented all over the media, reproducing it word by word from the original website, with added twists.
“So long as social media platforms continue to fail to warn their users about the nature of sites promoting misinformation,” writes Wired, “it will remain easy for even a small group of unreliable sites to hijack social media to amplify misinformation.”
It is highly likely you’ve already seen this one in your social media newsfeed. Yes, it is true that some people in China eat bats, but how is that different from the people in the United States who eat squirrels?
Did this pandemic begin because bats are a delicacy for some in China? The answer is no. There is no evidence that eating bats, pangolins, or other animals caused the coronavirus outbreak.
“When psychological states are peaked and people are anxious, they’re more apt to share [inaccurate] information,” said Jen Grygiel, assistant professor in communications specializing in memes and social media at Syracuse University. “We don’t know where COVID-19 came from, but it’s safe to say characterizing the virus as a product of an entire country’s eating habits is inaccurate and wildly offensive,” he added.
Some supporters of President Donald Trump believe the Democratic Party conspired with China to come up with a pandemic in order to make him look bad. “I believe that because Russia didn’t work, and Ukraine didn’t work, and impeachment didn’t work,” stated commentator Josh Bernstein in an episode of the conservative podcast The NutriMedical Report, according to USA Today. “They are so hell-bent on destroying this country [and] this president to gain back power that they probably worked with the Chinese government, and they devised this plan.”
However, this is also the kind of conspiracy theory that shows no evidence to support any such plot. As we can see, Trump hasn’t lost the support of those who supported him pre-pandemic.
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