January 2024.
As part of the program Regional Initiative for combating disinformation “Western Balkans Combatting disinformation Center: Exposing malicious influences through fact-checking and Analytical Journalism“, we present you a new analysis of fake news and disinformation narratives.
Military expert: Corona was just a test – The new viruses they make are biological weapons for managing countries
The annual World Economic Forum in Davos was held from January 15 to 19. The forum in Davos traditionally attracts enormous attention from the world public due to the importance of the participants and the topics discussed. Additionally, it is known that the World Economic Forum has a very negative reputation in certain circles and is associated and identified with numerous conspiratorial ideas. Even this year’s meeting in Davos was not bypassed by such narratives in certain media, close to the alternative and sovereign right, including the media in Serbia.
During the Forum in Davos, a panel titled “Preparing for Disease X” was held, where participants, including the director of the World Health Organization, discussed efforts at the global level to respond more effectively to potential future pandemics. However, as was the case many times during the coronavirus pandemic, the topic, in general, was an occasion to spread the previously constructed narrative about the alleged systematic planning of the “globalist elites” to use pandemics as biological weapons that will allow them to rule countries.
Among the texts that appeared in Serbia, the one published on the pro-Russian portal Web Tribune under the title “Corona was just a test – the new viruses they are making are actually biological weapons for managing states” is illustrative. The key elements of the narrative are contained in the text. It is emphasized that “after the adventure with the coronavirus, the world elites are no longer hiding anything in particular – they are developing vaccines against the virus that they invented in advance”, and it is further stated that disease X was talked about six months before the topic culminated at the Forum in Davos.
The authors of the text refer to the statements of specific experts from the USA who claim that pandemics are rightly called “plandemics” and that the goal of the Western elites – with the inevitable mention of Bill Gates – is to expand the authority and power of the World Health Organization (WHO) to “deprive countries of their sovereignty…and gave the WHO…to restrict medical and civil liberties in countries around the world.”
The Web Tribune also writes that the “fictional disease X” is primarily associated with social engineering and the idea of establishing control over society “under the pretext of protecting against dangerous viruses.”
The article published by the Web Tribune portal contains completely incorrect claims. Still, it is also an example of manipulation of information to promote narratives that undermine international (health) institutions. First of all, the fact is that the term “disease X” was coined by the World Health Organization back in 2018 for the sake of research into prevention strategies for global health crises.
The experiences of epidemics and pandemics throughout modern history have imposed the need to develop an action plan at the international level in case of future crises. Most of the world’s most developed countries recognize pandemics as risks or threats to national security and are categorized as such in official national strategies. The situation is similar with Serbia in this regard.
While the existence of objective risks dictates debates on the best ways to respond to possible health crises, it is essential to point out that the panel of the World Economic Forum in Davos discussed only a hypothetical situation and that “disease X” is not an actual disease.
Author: Sofija Popović
