‘Plandemic’ Video Pulled—But Still Circulates

Facebook and YouTube have pulled 'Plandemic,' a viral video touting unsubstantiated claims about the novel coronavirus—but edited versions remain online, Reuters reports.

In the 26-minute clip, prominent anti-vaxxer Judy Mikovits claims that COVID-19 is a profiteering scheme by vaccine makers and suggests face masks can make people sick.  

Critiquing the film in the Big Think, Derek Beres likens Mikovits—a former researcher—to the vaccine conspiracy theorist Andrew Wakefield.

However questionable its claims—including that global vaccination programs are rooted in Hitler’s Germany—the film is born of a very real issue of pharmaceutical companies exploiting for-profit health care, Beres writes.

But: “Contrary to the film's stated goal of waking people up, it accomplishes the opposite: by spreading misinformation, it's making people more fearful and ignorant of the scientific process."