«A US-funded website is spreading misinformation about COVID-19 in Armenia», the British openDemocracy has titled its investigative article published today.
The article refers to the Medmedia.am website, which was launched after the velvet revolution by the «Armenian Union of Young Doctors» public organization, headed by urologist Kevork Grigoryan.
According to the publication, Medmedia is a contradictory health website that spreads «incredibly dangerous» misinformation about the «Corona» virus. The website was created with funds provided by the Democracy Commission’s small grants program, which was awarded last year by the US Embassy in Armenia. This grant, aimed at promoting democracy, is up to 50,000 dollars annually.
«The most widespread material presented false information that one of the morgues had offered 100,000 drams ($205) to the relatives of a deceased patient in exchange for their signature on a document stating that the cause of death was COVID-19. In other recently published articles, COVID-19 is presented as a “fake pandemic”», the article states.
The website also contains an anti-vaccine campaign; there are claims that the vaccines currently in the development stage are in reality biological weapons.
«When the media was spreading that chips were going to be implanted in people or that they were trying to take money from people’s relatives to register the death under the name of the “Corona” virus, at first I thought that people would not take it seriously, but because of such news, people have started to believe them. This seriously disrupts the work of the system, because people have started not to believe in the existence of the virus, and in their behavior they allow steps that, by and large, could also be one of the reasons for its spread», said the press secretary of the Minister of Health, Alina Nikoghosyan.
Misinformation expert Claire Wardle emphasized in the openDemocracy publication: «There is no justification for a professional “news site” to promote such theories […] It is more likely that people will believe it and then share it with others, because they believed it was verified by an “official source”».
The European Union Delegation to Armenia told openDemocracy that nearly 10,000 euros were «sub-granted» to the Armenian Union of Young Doctors by another Non-Governmental Organization.
The US Embassy in Armenia told «Azatutyun» that the grant provided to the union was intended for a project that increases transparency, accountability and reduces the risks of corruption.
