Coronavirus grifts crop up online for political gain and profit

On Saturday the Washington Post reported that an agency within the State Department had compiled a report of two million tweets, which peddled conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. Among the hoaxes compiled in the report and reported by the Post included the suggestion that the virus had been created by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation or was the result of a bioweapon developed by the Chinese government. Critically, the report indicated that some of the misinformation spread online appeared to be the result of "inauthentic and coordinated activity," the Post reported the document saying.

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