US taxpayer money used to spread “incredibly dangerous” COVID-19 misinformation.

How does misinformation spread? The question has become urgent amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Friends, family and others close to us are often our first source of false facts – but there are also misinformation ‘super-spreaders’ with far more influence, power and reach, pumping out and amplifying potentially dangerous claims.

This week, openDemocracy’s Tracking the Backlash project revealed how US taxpayer money has funded a controversial health news website in Armenia that is spreading “incredibly dangerous” COVID-19 misinformation.

Articles on the website, Medmedia.am, have described coronavirus as a “fake pandemic” and vaccines as “biological weapons”.

The website was launched last year with money from a US state department programme to “promote democracy”, which was given to an Armenian NGO led by a locally well-known young doctor with far-right connections.

An official from the Armenian ministry of health told our reporter Tatevik Hovhannisyan that the website’s activities could worsen the pandemic in the country – and that anti-vax campaigns had already been on the rise there before the coronavirus outbreak.

Our team is tracking these movements – and how they often overlap with those opposing women’s and LGBTIQ rights, which we’ve followed for years.

Earlier this year, we revealed how US Christian right groups had supported and helped to finance the spread of anti-abortion misinformation around the world – prompting health officials in several countries to promise formal investigations.

Health-related misinformation was a global crisis before the coronavirus pandemic. Investigating how it spreads – and who’s behind it – is difficult but critical work.

Follow our cross-border team on Twitter – @ClaireProvost, @namlyd, @kerrycullinan11, @diana_cariboni, @nandi_naira, @FrancescaVisser, @tahovhannisyan, @anihovh, @AryaKarijo, @lingelien and @caroldeassis – and get in touch if you have any tips on misinformation super-spreaders in your region.

Thank you,



Claire Provost,
Global Investigations Editor, openDemocracy