Trump Retweets False CDC Death Count Claim, Twitter Deletes It
A QAnon-driven conspiracy that baselessly questions the official U.S. coronavirus death count is circulating on social media, including by President Donald Trump. Twitter removed his retweet. Its just the latest example of the uphill climb the company faces in battling dangerous misinformation.
The Washington Post:
Twitter Deletes Trump’s Coronavirus Death Toll Retweet, Citing Misinformation
After President Trump retweeted a claim that discounted the coronavirus death toll in the United States over the weekend, Twitter took down the post that spread false information. The tweet was originally posted by “Mel Q,” a follower of the baseless conspiracy theory QAnon, which posits that the president is battling a cabal of Satan-worshiping child sex traffickers. It was copied from a Facebook post and claimed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had “quietly updated the Covid number to admit that only 6%” of reported deaths — or about 9,000 — “actually died from Covid.” (Shammas and Kornfield, 8/31)
AP:
CDC Has Not Reduced The Death Count Related To COVID-19
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not “backpedal” on the number of deaths caused by COVID-19, reducing the figure from nearly 154,000 to just over 9,000, as social media posts claimed.The term “Only 6%” trended widely on Twitter over the weekend as supporters of the QAnon conspiracy theory promoted tweets that falsely suggested the CDC had updated its records to show that only 6% of U.S. deaths tied to COVID-19 were legitimate. President Donald Trump was among those who tweeted the information, which was later taken down by Twitter for violating platform rules. (Dupuy, 8/31)
Lexington Herald Leader:
Kentucky, Other Health Leaders Correct Record On COVID-19 Deaths After Trump Tweet
Health departments were trying Monday to clarify the facts after President Donald Trump retweeted a QAnon conspiracy theorist who falsely claimed only 6 percent of COVID-19 deaths in the United States were actually because of COVID-19. The tweet, which has since been deleted by Twitter for spreading misinformation, claimed the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention “quietly” updated its data to show that only 6 percent of people who were counted as COVID-19 deaths “actually died from COVID.” (Chisenhall, 8/31)
Politico:
Twitter Changing Labeling Practices After Deceptive Videos Hit Biden
Twitter said Monday it will begin displaying warning labels on shared posts that contain misleading or doctored videos after facing complaints that it failed to do enough to limit the spread of deceptive clips targeting Joe Biden's campaign. (Lima, 8/31)
In other Twitter news —
The Hill:
Herman Cain Account Tweets Coronavirus 'Not As Deadly' As Claimed After His Death From COVID-19
The late Herman Cain’s Twitter account, now supervised by family and friends, tweeted Sunday that the coronavirus which killed Cain in July is “not as deadly as the mainstream media made it out to be.” The tweet was later deleted, but the account tweeted other messages questioning the risk of the coronavirus which has infected more than 6 million people in the U.S. and killed more than 182,000, including Cain, a former Republican presidential candidate. (Klar, 8/31)
