False claims about the new variant have leaped across the Internet in the two weeks since it was first identified.
One post in a group with more than a million members on the Telegram messaging app claimed the vaccines had caused the omicron variant, according to First Draft, a nonprofit that investigates misinformation.
Another conspiracy theory posits that the variant is being pushed by governments and pharmaceutical companies to undermine ivermectin, an anti-parasite drug that vaccine skeptics have said treats covid-19, the disease caused by the virus. (There is no scientific evidence supporting that claim.)
Others have claimed the timing of the variant’s discovery suggests government officials are trying to distract people from following the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, who is accused of helping financier Jeffrey Epstein traffic underage girls.
The new strains of misinformation are the latest wrinkle in what has been a years-long battle between social media companies and those taking advantage of a global thirst for knowledge and facts in the face of a void of information.
“It’s a classic example of when you’ve got a vacuum, it gets filled very quickly with conspiracy theorists,” said Claire Wardle, executive director of First Draft.
