The CDC has faced an onslaught of calls about a COVID-19 conspiracy theory linked to QAnon
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) received an onslaught of media requests from news reporters asking about claims that the agency had misreported COVID-19 death data, according to a report from The Daily Beast.
Those concerns were first spread by believers of the QAnon conspiracy theory, who said on social media that only six percent of people recorded as dead from the disease had "actually died" of COVID-19. CDC officials told The Daily Beast that the unfounded claim was easily debunked.
"The amount of requests we had to deal with on this issue was insane," said one senior CDC official, according to The Daily Beast. "And these were from legitimate outlets. This is all easily debunked by just searching our website for the actual statistics."
As Americans on the far-right allege that the pandemic is not as bad as it seems, this false claim easily spread online. Videos like the Plandemic "documentary" that include huge amounts of false information have continued to circulate on social media, as platforms try to push against misinformation.
The six percent claim was originally posted on Twitter by a QAnon believer using the username "Mel Q" over the weekend, The Washington Post reported. Twitter has since removed the tweet for violating the platform's rules against misinformation.
President Trump himself shared the tweet before it was removed by the platform.
"In all my time working in the government I've never had to deal with something this crazy," a CDC official told The Daily Beast. "The level of disinformation spread by this group has grown in recent months and now we're having to actively debunk it through the press."
Insider has reached out to the CDC for comment.
As QAnon theories enter the mainstream, the CDC is not the first US agency met with a slew of questions related to the conspiracy theory.
The National Human Trafficking Hotline said in a July statement that it was becoming increasingly hard for them to do the actual work of stopping human trafficking, as its tipline became inundated with reports about the unfounded Wayfair conspiracy theory. The Wayfair conspiracy theory, popularized by QAnon devotees, falsely alleged that the furniture company was selling human children disguised as furniture and decor on its website.
Polaris, the non-profit organization that runs the hotline, said in the statement that "the extreme volume of these contacts has made it more difficult for the Trafficking Hotline to provide support and attention to others who are in need of help."
QAnon's real-world reach has grown in recent months, as President Trump said in a press conference that he believed the conspiracy theory's followers were "people that love our country."
Several crimes have been linked to the conspiracy theory, including two murders and at least one attempted kidnapping.
- Read more:
- Wayfair conspiracy theorists are overwhelming the National Human Trafficking Hotline
- How the Wayfair human-trafficking conspiracy theory grew out of QAnon
- QAnon conspiracy theorists have been linked to a killing and multiple armed stand-offs. Here are the criminal allegations connected to the movement and its followers.
- QAnon is leaking into the mainstream, moving from internet fringes to primetime cable news as Americans keep falling for the unfounded conspiracy theory
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