A Reuters investigation has revealed that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. military secretly spread anti-vaccine propaganda in the Philippines to undermine China’s influence. Here’s an excerpt:
The clandestine operation has not been previously reported. It aimed to sow doubt about the safety and efficacy of vaccines and other life-saving aid that was being supplied by China, a Reuters investigation found. Through phony internet accounts meant to impersonate Filipinos, the military’s propaganda efforts morphed into an anti-vax campaign. Social media posts decried the quality of face masks, test kits and the first vaccine that would become available in the Philippines – China’s Sinovac inoculation.
Reuters identified at least 300 accounts on X, formerly Twitter, that matched descriptions shared by former U.S. military officials familiar with the Philippines operation. Almost all were created in the summer of 2020 and centered on the slogan #Chinaangvirus – Tagalog for China is the virus.
“COVID came from China and the VACCINE also came from China, don’t trust China!” one typical tweet from July 2020 read in Tagalog. The words were next to a photo of a syringe beside a Chinese flag and a soaring chart of infections. Another post read: “From China – PPE, Face Mask, Vaccine: FAKE. But the Coronavirus is real.”
After Reuters asked X about the accounts, the social media company removed the profiles, determining they were part of a coordinated bot campaign based on activity patterns and internal data.
The U.S. military’s anti-vax effort began in the spring of 2020 and expanded beyond Southeast Asia before it was terminated in mid-2021, Reuters determined. Tailoring the propaganda campaign to local audiences across Central Asia and the Middle East, the Pentagon used a combination of fake social media accounts on multiple platforms to spread fear of China’s vaccines among Muslims at a time when the virus was killing tens of thousands of people each day. A key part of the strategy: amplify the disputed contention that, because vaccines sometimes contain pork gelatin, China’s shots could be considered forbidden under Islamic law.
The military programme started under former President Donald Trump and continued months into Joe Biden’s presidency, Reuters found – even after alarmed social media executives warned the new administration that the Pentagon had been trafficking in Covid misinformation. The Biden White House issued an edict in spring 2021 banning the anti-vax effort, which also disparaged vaccines produced by other rivals, and the Pentagon initiated an internal review, Reuters found.
The U.S. military is prohibited from targeting Americans with propaganda, and Reuters found no evidence the Pentagon’s influence operation did so.
Spokespeople for Trump and Biden did not respond to requests for comment about the clandestine programme.
A senior Defense Department official acknowledged the U.S. military engaged in secret propaganda to disparage China’s vaccine in the developing world, but the official declined to provide details.
A Pentagon spokeswoman said the U.S. military “uses a variety of platforms, including social media, to counter those malign influence attacks aimed at the U.S., allies, and partners.” She also noted that China had started a “disinformation campaign to falsely blame the United States for the spread of COVID-19.”
In an email, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it has long maintained the U.S. Government manipulates social media and spreads misinformation.
Manila’s embassy in Washington did not respond to Reuters inquiries, including whether it had been aware of the Pentagon operation. A spokesperson for the Philippines Department of Health, however, said the “findings by Reuters deserve to be investigated and heard by the appropriate authorities of the involved countries.” Some aid workers in the Philippines, when told of the U.S. military propaganda effort by Reuters, expressed outrage.
Briefed on the Pentagon’s secret anti-vax campaign by Reuters, some American public health experts also condemned the programme, saying it put civilians in jeopardy for potential geopolitical gain. An operation meant to win hearts and minds endangered lives, they said.
“I don’t think it’s defensible,” said Daniel Lucey, an infectious disease specialist at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine. “I’m extremely dismayed, disappointed and disillusioned to hear that the U.S. Government would do that,” said Lucey, a former military physician who assisted in the response to the 2001 anthrax attacks.
The effort to stoke fear about Chinese inoculations risked undermining overall public trust in Government health initiatives, including U.S.-made vaccines that became available later, Lucey and others said. Although the Chinese vaccines were found to be less effective than the American-led shots by Pfizer and Moderna, all were approved by the World Health Organisation. Sinovac did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
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That is the point they made on Headliners on Friday night. I didn’t watch much of GBN but sometimes switch to them when the adverts are on. Last night Mark Dolan mentioned their treatment by oFcom, no mention that his old mate is fighting them in Court right now, care to lend a hand? Dolan is too mainstream but Neil Hamilton is always worth listening to, can’t say much about the rest of them. Steyn & Neil Oliver have better guests that talk about real issues.
The Pentagon, with its almost trillion dollar annual budget, and the CIA operate practically autonomously and are likely totally outside the control of every US President – as apparent from the continued secrecy of files relating to JFK’s assassination. The 10-minute video of Noam Chomsky’s The Crimes of U.S. Presidents – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BXtgq0Nhsc – is another condemning document of these two institutions.
Regardless of the article’s claims of thousands of ‘pandemic’ deaths and the supposed relative effectivity of the various ‘vaccines’, China’s “disinformation campaign to falsely blame the United States for the spread of COVID-19” had some justification with the knowledge of Fauci’s gain of function research at Wuhan!
Against all vaccinations: see, for example, countless articles on ‘vaccines’ in https://expose-news.com/, or the books Virus Mania by Engelbrecht et al and Dissolving Illusions by Humphries and Bystrianyk.
Ron Smith
9 months ago
““I’m extremely dismayed, disappointed and disillusioned to hear that the U.S. Government would do that,” said Lucey, a former military physician who assisted in the response to the 2001 anthrax attacks.”
My take on this is that the Americans were against the “vaccines” until they had ones of their own, when they suddenly decided they were a good idea.
It is great to have principles; it is a shame that the Yanks don’t.
So the US used truth to run a propaganda campaign against the Chinese, while back in the good old US they ran the opposite propaganda campaign. Got to laugh. The US – the gift that keeps on giving.
I have just read this which points to iron oxide as an element to consider in many illnesses: during and after the First World War there would have been a lot of pollution and especially off gassing of iron oxide. It points out that TB is still the No. 1 killer world wide. A good read. Solving the Mystery of TB: The Iron Factor – The Weston A. Price Foundation (westonaprice.org)
LionelMan
9 months ago
Never under any circumstances believe anything from Reuters, a leader in worldwide propaganda.
I can’t believe the Daily Sceptic commenters have fallen for this. It is probably true, but that is almost irrelevant. It has interference stamped all over it. And no, not interference with China. Interference with us now. That Reuters are running this out if all the true stories they could run but don’t should confirm for everyone just how utterly controlled they are.
Peter W
9 months ago
It might not have been the Chinese, it might’ve been me!
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This is the first and only time they were actually truthful and they probably actually saved lives as a result.
That is the point they made on Headliners on Friday night. I didn’t watch much of GBN but sometimes switch to them when the adverts are on. Last night Mark Dolan mentioned their treatment by oFcom, no mention that his old mate is fighting them in Court right now, care to lend a hand? Dolan is too mainstream but Neil Hamilton is always worth listening to, can’t say much about the rest of them. Steyn & Neil Oliver have better guests that talk about real issues.
Spot on. My thoughts exactly. Quackcines only maim, injure and kill. All of them.
The Pentagon, with its almost trillion dollar annual budget, and the CIA operate practically autonomously and are likely totally outside the control of every US President – as apparent from the continued secrecy of files relating to JFK’s assassination. The 10-minute video of Noam Chomsky’s The Crimes of U.S. Presidents – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BXtgq0Nhsc – is another condemning document of these two institutions.
Regardless of the article’s claims of thousands of ‘pandemic’ deaths and the supposed relative effectivity of the various ‘vaccines’, China’s “disinformation campaign to falsely blame the United States for the spread of COVID-19” had some justification with the knowledge of Fauci’s gain of function research at Wuhan!
What a crazy and violent world we live in.
The most effective life saving treatment is persuasion against all Covid jabs.
Against all vaccinations: see, for example, countless articles on ‘vaccines’ in https://expose-news.com/, or the books Virus Mania by Engelbrecht et al and Dissolving Illusions by Humphries and Bystrianyk.
““I’m extremely dismayed, disappointed and disillusioned to hear that the U.S. Government would do that,” said Lucey, a former military physician who assisted in the response to the 2001 anthrax attacks.”
Pot Kettle Black!
My take on this is that the Americans were against the “vaccines” until they had ones of their own, when they suddenly decided they were a good idea.
It is great to have principles; it is a shame that the Yanks don’t.
What a lot of people forget is that a decade or so ago, many US middle classes were “antivax”.
So the US used truth to run a propaganda campaign against the Chinese, while back in the good old US they ran the opposite propaganda campaign. Got to laugh. The US – the gift that keeps on giving.
Good article on the Spanish Flu:https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/the-truth-about-spanish-flu-a-man-made-medical-disaster/
A similar article is here, https://expose-news.com/2024/03/10/the-1918-pandemic-the-viral-theory-the-unproven-notion-of-airborne-viral-illness-that-has-enslaved-humanity-to-the-corrupt-medical-cartel/, which includes over-reporting and early vaccines as additional causes, but also concludes that Rockefeller has much to explain.
I have just read this which points to iron oxide as an element to consider in many illnesses: during and after the First World War there would have been a lot of pollution and especially off gassing of iron oxide. It points out that TB is still the No. 1 killer world wide. A good read.
Solving the Mystery of TB: The Iron Factor – The Weston A. Price Foundation (westonaprice.org)
Never under any circumstances believe anything from Reuters, a leader in worldwide propaganda.
Exactly – why are they reporting this now?
I can’t believe the Daily Sceptic commenters have fallen for this. It is probably true, but that is almost irrelevant. It has interference stamped all over it. And no, not interference with China. Interference with us now. That Reuters are running this out if all the true stories they could run but don’t should confirm for everyone just how utterly controlled they are.
It might not have been the Chinese, it might’ve been me!