Misinformation Alerts
Knowing what misinformation is being shared can help you generate effective messaging.
These insights are based on a combination of automated media monitoring and manual review by public health data analysts. Media data are publicly available data from many sources, such as social media, broadcast television, newspapers and magazines, news websites, online video, blogs, and more. Analysts from the Public Good Projects triangulate this data along with other data from fact checking organizations and investigative sources to provide an accurate, but not exhaustive, list of currently circulating misinformation.
Misinformation Alerts
Knowing what misinformation is being shared can help you generate effective messaging.
These insights are based on a combination of automated media monitoring and manual review by public health data analysts. Media data are publicly available data from many sources, such as social media, broadcast television, newspapers and magazines, news websites, online video, blogs, and more. Analysts from the Public Good Projects triangulate this data along with other data from fact checking organizations and investigative sources to provide an accurate, but not exhaustive, list of currently circulating misinformation.
Alerts are categorized as high, medium, and low risk.
- High risk alerts: Narratives with widespread circulation across communities, high engagement, exponential velocity, and a high potential to impact health decisions. Are often more memorable than accurate information.
- Medium risk alerts: Narratives that are circulating in priority populations and pose some threat to health. Potential for further spread due to the tactics used or because of predicted velocity. Often highlights the questions and concerns of people.
- Low risk alerts: Narratives that are limited in reach, don’t impact your community, or lack the qualities necessary for future spread. May indicate information gaps, confusion, or concerns.
A video circulating on multiple social media platforms features a social media influencer who is pretending to be a medical expert. The man claims that flu cases are being miscategorized as COVID-19. The person claims to have collected 1,500 positive COVID-19 samples that, when viewed under a microscope, were all actually influenza viruses.
Recommendation: 
A heavily edited viral video produced by a right-wing activist group that is notorious for releasing misleadingly edited secret recordings claims to show a top Pfizer executive saying that the company had plans to mutate the COVID-19 virus to test vaccines on more potent variants. The video has been shared and viewed millions of times across multiple social media platforms.
Recommendation: 
A social post repeats the long-disproven myth that the elimination of polio was not due to vaccines but to reduced use of the pesticide DDT. The claim has persisted for years despite the fact that DDT was not used in some countries that had polio outbreaks, and outbreaks persisted—and still occur—in some countries long after DDT was banned. The post has been flagged as misinformation but remains up on the platform.
Recommendation:
A short video clip circulating online claims to show the founder and CEO of a major social media platform warning his staff not to get COVID-19 vaccines because they can modify DNA. The clip is from a July 2020 virtual meeting, but posts sharing the clip falsely claim it is from August 2021.
Recommendation:
A 25-year-old recent pharmacy school graduate who helped run vaccine clinics died of unknown causes late last year. Some vaccine opponents immediately speculated that the death was related to COVID-19 vaccines. Several weeks after the woman’s death, her father suffered an aortic dissection, a tear on the lining of the major blood vessel in the heart. The same bad actors are now claiming that both deaths were vaccine-related.
Recommendation: 
A website that is a frequent source of COVID-19 misinformation and conspiracy theories claims the CDC “quietly” published a report that revealed 118,000 young adults “died suddenly” following the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.
Recommendation:
The CDC investigated a potential link between the Pfizer bivalent COVID-19 booster and increased stroke risk in older adults. The investigation found no increased stroke risk. Several news headlines noted the potential link but not the result of the investigation. As a result, vaccine opponents are falsely claiming that the CDC found a link.
Recommendation:
A widely circulated video features several false claims about COVID-19 vaccines, including that people who are fully vaccinated and boosted are more susceptible to COVID-19 than the unvaccinated. The video also falsely claims that COVID-19 vaccines are untested and are used to treat strep A bacteria infections, which cause strep throat and scarlet fever.
Recommendation:
A widely shared social media thread and blog post claim that a member of Pfizer’s board of directors contacted the platform’s public policy manager to flag a post promoting natural immunity over vaccine immunity. The post in question claimed that immunity from COVID-19 infection was far superior to immunity from vaccination and that those who have had COVID-19 should be exempt from vaccination requirements. The post, which was not supported by scientific evidence, was flagged as misleading.
Recommendation:
A social media account that has downplayed the seriousness of COVID-19—and was previously suspended for promoting misinformation—shared a text message purportedly from a former NFL player. The text states that the person believes the vaccine is responsible if they die or have a heart attack. A post sharing the image claims that we will see the impact of the vaccine in the next few years.
Recommendation:
Alerts are categorized as high, medium, and low risk.
- High risk alerts: Narratives with widespread circulation across communities, high engagement, exponential velocity, and a high potential to impact health decisions. Are often more memorable than accurate information.
- Medium risk alerts: Narratives that are circulating in priority populations and pose some threat to health. Potential for further spread due to the tactics used or because of predicted velocity. Often highlights the questions and concerns of people.
- Low risk alerts: Narratives that are limited in reach, don’t impact your community, or lack the qualities necessary for future spread. May indicate information gaps, confusion, or concerns.
Vaccine Misinformation Guide
Get practical tips for addressing misinformation in this new guide. Click image to download.
Vaccine Misinformation Guide
Get practical tips for addressing misinformation in this new guide. Click image to download, or see highlights.