Sen. Annette Cleveland (D-Vancouver) urged the public to be skeptical of unsubstantiated rumors after the circulation of wild falsehoods prompted tens of thousands of emails, phone calls and death threats last week to state Board of Health officials and staff.
The source of the misinformation ranged from YouTube videos to social media posts to simple hearsay, all of which warned that the board planned to adopt policies to apprehend and forcibly quarantine anyone who has not been vaccinated against the coronavirus. Outside of social media posts and falsehoods spread verbally, there was nothing to support the wild claims.
“Given how social media has become a popular tool for spreading falsehoods, I would encourage people to run an online search if they hear of something alarming that has not been reported by a credible news outlet,” Cleveland said. “If you run a search on a rumor and all that pops up are social media posts and YouTube videos, that’s a pretty good indicator of the information being suspect.”
The unfounded rumors were also spread by conservative talk radio hosts and Republican congressional candidates.
“As chair of Senate health care, I know it’s important to handle information responsibly and to make sure it is based on facts and data,” Cleveland said. “It’s not unreasonable for someone to assume public figures would be careful not to spread falsehoods, but unfortunately we live in an era where many people consider online clicks and firing up an audience more important than veracity.”
Cleveland cautioned people to ignore biased or inflammatory sources and said people can find reliable information on health issues by checking the Board of Health website or by contacting trusted local health department officials.
The Board of Health had made clear in an online post, for instance, that the agenda for its Jan. 12 meeting would have nothing to do with forced quarantines or any other changes in public policy, a fact confirmed by TVW’s recording of the meeting.
