From ‘Stop the Steal’ to stop the vaccine
Extremists now have new agenda to try to subvert government
Adherents of far-right groups who cluster online have turned repeatedly to one particular website in recent weeks: the federal database showing deaths and adverse reactions nationwide among people who have received COVID-19 vaccinations.
Although negative reactions have been relatively rare, the numbers are used by many extremist groups to try to bolster a rash of false and alarmist disinformation in articles and videos with titles such as “COVID-19 Vaccines Are Weapons of Mass Destruction — and Could Wipe out the Human Race” or “Doctors and Nurses Giving the COVID-19 Vaccine Will be Tried as War Criminals.”
If the “Stop the Steal” movement appeared to be chasing a lost cause once President Joe Biden was inaugurated, its supporters among extremist organizations now are adopting a new agenda from the anti-vaccination campaign to try to undermine the government.
Bashing of the safety and efficacy of vaccines is occurring in chat rooms frequented by all manner of right-wing groups, which tend to portray vaccines as a symbol of excessive government control.
“If less people get vaccinated then the system will have to use more aggressive force on the rest of us to make us get the shot,” read a recent post on the Telegram social media platform, in a channel linked to members of the Proud Boys charged in storming the Capitol.
The focus on vaccines is particularly striking on discussion channels populated by followers of Qanon who had falsely prophesied that Donald Trump would continue as president while his political opponents were marched off to jail.
“They rode the shift in the national conversation away from Trump to what was happening with the massive ramp-up in vaccines,” said Devin Burghart, the head of the Seattle-based Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights, which monitors far-right movements. He was referring to followers of Qanon. “It allowed them to pivot away from the failure of their previous prophecy to focus on something else.”
Prominent voices in the “Stop the Steal” and the anti-vaccination movements helped organize scattered rallies March 20 against vaccines, masks and social distancing in cities around the world.
Next month, a conference with the tagline “Learn How to Fight Back for Your Health and Freedom,” is set to bring together Trump allies such as Michael Flynn and Sidney Powell, along with high-profile members of the anti-vaccination effort.
Numerous channels link to the government website called VAERS, for Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, to energize followers. It had reported 2,216 deaths among people vaccinated for the three months before March 22, with 126 million doses administered.
The COVID-19 vaccines in use, like most vaccinations, are considered overwhelmingly safe, but inevitably a small percentage of recipients suffer adverse reactions, some of them severe. The deaths haven’t been directly linked to the vaccinations.
The raw, incomplete VAERS statistics are meant for scientists and medical professionals but are widely used among extremist groups to try to undermine confidence in the vaccine. One video consisted of a person reading the details from the chart aloud and barking “Murder” where the chart said “Death.”
On Telegram, channels frequented by tens of thousands of Qanon followers are full of videos warning of the dire consequences of taking the vaccine. For example, David Icke, a British serial conspiracy theorist, posted a video called “Murder by Vaccine,” claiming that it altered human DNA.
Icke is best known for arguing that the world is controlled by shape-shifting alien lizards who inhabit a global network of underground tunnels.
“The last year with COVID has just been a perfect storm that whatever your crazy conspiracy belief is, there is someone who has a COVID conspiracy to match it,” said Melissa Ryan, CEO of Card Strategies, a consulting company that researches disinformation.