The Conversation (0)
Science & Tech
Greg Evans
Jan 29, 2020
The deadly coronavirus has already claimed more than a hundred lives in China after the disease broke out in the city of Wuhan.
Although traces of the virus have been tested for in other parts of the globe, no one has reportedly contracted the virus outside of the United States.
That being said, multiple conspiracy theories and pieces of disinformation have begun to pop up online, spreading more fear and worry among the general public.
This has now spread to the usually wholesome output of TikTok.
Media Matters has reported that videos on TikTok are spreading fake news about the Chinese government releasing the virus as a way of "population control."
A more disturbing video has since emerged where a user on the video app is pretending to be a scientist who has contracted the disease.
A report by Daily Dot shows that a man going by the name of @wright.mitchr has shared videos of him appearing to test blood samples which have wildly different results.
Almost all of the original videos from the user have now been removed but have been captured in duet videos.
In the clip the man says:
This is from patient zero, the one that we treated yesterday.
I haven’t opened it yet. I’m going to get it out on some paper here and show you guys, but that doesn’t look right to me. Something’s not good about that blood.
Daily Dot reports that the user had received criticism for the videos, which also showed him with a red liquid around his nose.
It remains unclear if the user removed the videos following the backlash or if they were removed by TikTok following complaints.
TikTok is yet to issue a statement in regards to the removal of the videos.
News of this comes shortly after real scientists in Australia became the first in the world to successfully create a lab-grown version of the coronavirus, which could be used to prevent further spread of the disease.
More: 5 pieces of disinformation about the coronavirus that are being shared online​