The Pentagon will set up a myth-busting website to counter coronavirus (COVID-19) disinformation disseminated partially by foreign actors, Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced on Monday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th March, 2020) The Pentagon will set up a myth-busting website to counter coronavirus (COVID-19) disinformation disseminated partially by foreign actors, Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced on Monday.
"One of things we are going to do, we are going to set up a page on our DoD website that we call 'myth-busters' right now, that will look at what is up there in terms of the rumor mill. We will be able to answer those and knock them down," Esper said during a virtual town hall meeting.
The page, as he sees it, will allow users to post information they have for verification.
"We'll try and find a way on that page for folks to write and say 'Hey, I've heard this, is there any truth to that?' So that we can knock these myths down," the Pentagon chief said.
Esper said that coronavirus disinformation comes from multiple sources.
"Some of it is just people are concerned and scared and anxious. And then we probably have external actors, countries who want to saw chaos in the United States, who are injecting some of this into the ecosystem, if you will," he said.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier accused actors in China, Russia and Iran of spreading fake news related to the coronavirus outbreak.
Esper dispelled some of the most popular rumors, ruling out the scenario of a marshal law or "mass quarantines" in the US, where the disease has infected 46,548 people and killed 592 of them, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally.
Facebook and Twitter last month said they had no evidence to support State Department allegations that Russia has been spreading COVID-19 disinformation via social media.
