US conspiracy theorists monetize 'Disease X' misinformation

WASHINGTON, United States — Coined by the World Health Organization to denote a hypothetical future pandemic, "Disease X" is at the center of a blizzard of misinformation that American conspiracy theorists are amplifying -- and profiting from.

The falsehoods, including that the unknown pathogen indicates an elitist plot to depopulate the earth, appeared to originate in the United States but spilled to Asia in multiple regional languages, AFP fact-checkers found..2

The fast-spreading misinformation, which experts say illustrates the perils of reduced content moderation on social media sites, threatens to fuel vaccine hesitancy and jeopardize preparation for public health emergencies four years after the outbreak of COVID-19.

Stoking fears about Disease X, right-wing influencers in the United States are also cashing in on the falsehoods by hawking medical kits which contain what health experts call an unproven COVID-19 treatment.

"Misinformation mongers are trying to exploit this conspiracy theory to sell products," Timothy Caulfield, from the University of Alberta in Canada, told AFP.

"This is often their primary mode of income. The conflict is profound. Without the evidence-free fearmongering about vaccines and government conspiracies, they'd have little or no income."

The conspiracy theories particularly took off after the World Economic Forum -- a magnet for misinformation -- convened a "Preparing for Disease X" panel in January focused on a possible future pandemic.

Alex Jones, the founder of the website InfoWars who has made millions spreading conspiracy theories about mass shootings and Covid-19, falsely claimed on social media that there was a globalist plan to deploy Disease X as a "genocidal kill weapon."

As the conspiracy spread to China, posts shared on TikTok and X (formerly Twitter) claimed the Chinese government was rolling out mobile cremation ovens to cope with "mass deaths."

But using reverse image searches, AFP fact-checkers found the videos in the posts actually showed pet cremation services.

Last October, AFP fact-checkers debunked online posts in Malaysia that claimed nurses were being forced to take a nonexistent vaccine for Disease X.

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