Putin says fake coronavirus news reports being sent to Russia to spread panic

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that fake news reports about coronavirus were being sent to Russia from abroad to spread panic.

He urged the government to ensure that citizens were correctly informed about the situation.

Viral marketing ping
What you did there, I see it...

Bring Out Your Dead

Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.

The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.

So far the false positive rate is 100%.

At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.

*sigh* Such is life, and death...

If a quarantine saves just one child's life, it's worth it.

With the advent of the coronavirus hysteria, the current Russian administration has wasted no time taking up where its predecessors left off. The Chinese government will no doubt recycle this Russian propaganda in their press releases:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8032431/State-Department-blasts-Russia-spreading-disinformation-responsible-coronavirus.html
[Thousands of Russian-linked social media accounts have launched a coordinated effort to spread alarm about the new coronavirus, disrupting global efforts to combat the epidemic, U.S. officials say.

The disinformation campaign promotes unfounded conspiracy theories that the United States is behind the COVID-19 outbreak, in an apparent bid to damage the U.S. image by seizing on international health concerns, they said.

State Department officials tasked with combating Russian disinformation told AFP that false personas are being used on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to advance Russian talking propaganda about coronavirus in multiple languages.

‘Russia’s intent is to sow discord and undermine US institutions and alliances from within, including through covert and coercive malign influence campaigns,’ said Philip Reeker, the acting Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia.

‘By spreading disinformation about coronavirus, Russian malign actors are once again choosing to threaten public safety by distracting from the global health response,’ he said.

The claims that have been circulating in recent weeks include allegations that the virus is a US effort to ‘wage economic war on China,’ that it is a biological weapon manufactured by the CIA or part of a Western-led effort ‘to push anti-China messages.’

US individuals including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, a philanthropist who has spent billions on global health programs, have also been falsely accused of involvement in the virus.

The disinformation campaign was identified by US monitors in mid-January after Chinese officials announced a third death from the new coronavirus in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak.

Several thousand online accounts — previously identified for airing Russian-backed messages on major events such as the war in Syria, the Yellow Vest protests in France and Chile’s mass demonstrations — are posting ‘almost near identical’ messages about the novel coronavirus, according to a report prepared for the State]

Governments are busy pointing the finger at others—when they should be focusing on getting on top of the problem:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD2-QVBQi48RRQTD4Jhxu8w

A lot of folks here are upset because the disease spread from China, and now from Italy.

Well, the shoe is about to go on the other foot.

Because of our failed containment of this disease, we are going to infect the Caribbean, Central America and South America.

This is a worldwide problem, and focusing on blame is not going to solve it.

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