The report added that terrorist, violent extremist and organised criminal groups have maliciously used social media to disseminate conspiracy theories about the origin of COVID-19. According to the report, the researchers examined three groups of non-State actors: right-wing extremists; groups associated with the ISIS or Da’esh terror group and al-Qaeda; and organised crime groups. Right-wing extremist groups and the groups associated with ISIS and al-Qaeda have tried to use the pandemic to reinforce their narratives (either racist, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic and anti-immigrant or against democracy and modernisation). Right-wing extremist groups have also circulated conspiracy theories that blame immigrants and foreigners as the ones responsible for spreading the virus. Conspiracy theories such as Accelerationism, QAnon, and Boogaloo have also been used to misrepresent the COVID-19 pandemic, it said.

Source: The Hindu November 19, 2020 06:29 UTC