False virus cure claims infect the internet

HONG KONG: Gargle salt water, use herbal eyedrops, steam-clean a face mask — false claims about how to combat a deadly coranavirus epidemic emerging out of China are flooding the internet. Social media giants have promoted their strategies to combat misinformation related to the epidemic, which has claimed more than 560 lives in China and spread to 24 countries.

Twitter, which reported 15 million coronavirus-related tweets in January, said it had suspended auto-suggest search results that would likely produce untrustworthy content. Facebook also said it was targeting false claims aimed at discouraging treatment or taking appropriate precautious with the respiratory virus. “This includes claims related to false cures or prevention methods — like drinking bleach cures the coronavirus — or claims that create confusion about health resources that are available,” Kang-Xing Jin, Facebook’s head of health, said in a statement. The World Health Organization (WHO) has also launched a campaign to discredit specific claims, such as that sesame oil and mouthwash can effectively kill the virus. Yet the misinformation continues to pollute social media platforms and messaging apps. Here is a selection of the false claims that AFP, which has a specialised fact-checking team, has debunked in recent days.

A claim that the coronavirus can be cured overnight if sufferers drink freshly boiled garlic water was shared across Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in Pakistan. “There is no scientific evidence to substantiate the claim that garlic boiled water cures the novel coronavirus nor is there any proper medical research available on the subject,” said Dr Wasim Khawaja, an expert at the Pakistani Institute of Medical Sciences, for an AFP fact-check report.

In the Philippines, videos viewed many millions of claim the virus can be cured with an eye drop made of sap from a local shrub that is commonly used to treat fever and stomach issues.