Twitter is allowing a fake story about Ivermectin to be spread on its website, even with its supposed commitment to do “fact checking” and stop misinformation.
This weekend, Rolling Stone journalist Peter Wade put out a news story quoting from a doctor in Oklahoma, named Jason McElyea, who said that ER rooms in his state were overwhelmed because of ivermectin overdoses and that “gunshot victims were having difficulty getting care.”
The claim was then proved to be a completely fake story. There is no increase in ivermectin overdose cases in the state or anywhere else for that matter, something Rolling Stone was then forced to accept in a long correction to their article.
The BBC, Guardian, and the Hill also reported on the initial story, while liberal influencers including MSNBC host Rachel Maddow boosted the story via Twitter.
Despite its supposed commitment to fighting against misinformation, Twitter has not included a label to this story to warn its users that it has fake news, something that was highlighted on the platform by Glenn Greenwald.
Why is this viral @Maddow tweet spreading a totally false story still up? Why doesn't it have a "DISINFORMATION" label appended to it by @TwitterSafety? Why hasn't Maddow herself removed it? Why hasn't Twitter?
Yes, these are rhetorical questions. https://t.co/xpRtlqvfBr
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) September 5, 2021
The misinformation led to one hospital in Oklahoma, Northeastern Health System Sequoyah, to give a comment reassuring patients there was no ivermectin-related overflow, and that people suffering emergencies will be taken care as normal.
“Although Dr. McElyea is not a doctor at this hospital, he is connected to a medical staffing group that gives coverage for our ER. With this said, Dr. McElyea has not been at our Sallisaw hospital in more than 2 months,” said an official comment from the Oklahoma hospital.
“NHS Sequoyah has not treated any people because of complications connected to consuming ivermectin. This includes not treating anyone for an ivermectin overdose.”
“All patients who have come to our ER have got medical attention as needed. Our hospital did not turn anyone away who was seeking emergency care. We wish to reassure the community that our doctors and nurses are working hard to give quality healthcare to every patient.”
This comes at a time when the Biden Administration is struggling with their vaccine narrative as more vaccinated people catch covid-19 and health officials are discussion ongoing boosters being required.
Rolling Stone is far from the only media outlet to write up the story after Jason McElyea made his remarks to a local Oklahoma station.
The Hill, The Guardian and BBC are some of the others to publish stories based on the doctor's claims. None have updated their pieces as of now pic.twitter.com/E7xMThtO0P
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) September 5, 2021
Author: Blake Ambrose
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