London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Group that spread false Covid claims doubled Facebook interactions in six months

Group that spread false Covid claims doubled Facebook interactions in six months

Revelations about World Doctors Alliance pages raise questions about platform’s efforts to control misinformation

An international pressure group that spread false and conspiratorial claims about Covid-19 more than doubled the average number of interactions it got on Facebook in the first six months of 2021 in spite of renewed efforts to curb misinformation on the platform, according to a report.

Pages owned by the World Doctors Alliance – a group of current and former medical professionals and academics from seven countries – received 617,000 interactions in June 2021, up from 255,000 in January, according to a six-month rolling average.

The figures are revealed in a report by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, which raises fresh questions for Facebook after the whistleblower Frances Haugen claimed that the company knew its products were damaging the mental health of teenage girls and fanning the flames of ethnic violence in Ethiopia.

The World Doctors Alliance includes prominent members who have falsely claimed Covid-19 is a hoax and that vaccines cause widespread harm. Researchers found members “used their qualifications to lend a veneer of credibility to claims that have been proven to be false and often dangerous”.


Imran Ahmed, the chief executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, said: “Facebook’s attempts to control the epidemic of misleading information on its platforms are nothing more than performative PR exercises.

“It has had more than a decade to get a handle on the rampant misinformation which has flooded its platforms. But the systems in place fall a long way short of the mark, as this research clearly demonstrates.

“With each new revelation of Facebook’s institutional failure to act, we move closer to social media’s so-called ‘big tobacco moment’, when it is forced to finally take responsibility for the demonstrable harms caused by their products.”

In March 2020, the World Doctors Alliance had a combined following on Facebook of about 4,000 users. This had increased to more than 460,000 by June this year. The increase was mostly driven by the two most prominent members of the group: Dr Dolores Cahill, a former professor at University College Dublin, and Dr Scott Jensen, a former state senator from Minnesota.

Jensen drew international attention after he said extra payments for Covid patients created an incentive for doctors to inflate patient numbers, despite no evidence of fraudulent reporting, according to a USA Today factcheck. Donald Trump then amplified this claim on the campaign trail in 2020.

Cahill, who until March was the chairperson of the rightwing Eurosceptic Irish Freedom party, has claimed Covid-19 vaccines will cause widespread harm and death. Cahill has also claimed that masks and social distancing measures are unnecessary because Covid-19 can be treated with “nutrition, vitamins and hydroxychloroquine”.

British members of the group include Dr Mohammad Adil, an NHS surgeon who was suspended by the General Medical Council after claiming Covid-19 was a hoax.


Researchers took a sample of the 50 most popular posts from Alliance members, and categorised them into different narratives. They found the most popular claims were “conspiratorial in nature, implying some sort of overarching ‘master plan’ involving world governments, the media and healthcare authorities”.

The ISD also found serious shortcomings in Facebook’s factchecking programme, particularly regarding content in languages other than English.

One part of the company’s strategy for dealing with misinformation involves using third-party organisations to add context to misleading claims. However, a review of the 50 most popular mentioning the World Doctors Alliance revealed that just 13% of English-language posts containing false or misleading content carried a factcheck label.

In languages other than English, the proportion was even lower: 8% of German posts, 5% of Spanish posts and just 2% of Arabic posts.

Aoife Gallagher, a researcher at the ISD, said: “The approach to factchecking content one post at a time essentially acts as a plaster on a gushing wound. Many of the influencers in the Covid and vaccine misinformation spaces produce huge amounts of content, making it impossible for factcheckers to keep up with debunking efforts.”

The ISD called on Facebook to take stronger action on “misinformation super-spreaders”, increase resources dedicated to moderation and factchecking in languages other than English, and improve AI technology to assist with moderation.

A spokesperson for Facebook said it had removed the parent group for the World Doctors’ Alliance, World Freedom Alliance, in July, as well as removing 200m pieces of misinformation during the pandemic.

The spokesperson said: “Since the pandemic began, our goal has been to promote reliable information about Covid-19, take more aggressive action against misinformation, and encourage people to get vaccinated.”

The World Doctors Alliance did not respond to a request for comment.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×