There are plenty of fake news articles circulating around the internet with the purpose to pursuade, mislead, or fool readers. Some of these fake news articles can be particularly dangerous, especially where ingesting deadly materials is involved. In 2020, many people were pushing the narrative that there is protection and even a potential cure against Covid: chlorine dioxide, sold online under the name MMS. One loud advocate for MMS, Kerri Rivera, posted an article about how chlorine dioxide “irradicates CoronaVirus” and is “[known to be] safe for ingestion by people, and has been used for helping the body heal from any number of health problems” (Kerri Rivera, 2020). As a tactic to further gain believers in MMS, she even included a quote from the NCBI stating that “chlorine dioxide in wastewater ensures complete inactivation of SARS-CoV” to falsely support her claims. The quote she included from the NCBI specifies how wastewater should be treated to eradicate Covid, which is water that is discarded from homes and not to be used by the public. She uses this quote to push her readers to believe that chlorine dioxide is a safe substance to use.
In response to the number of people who have claimed that chlorine dioxide is a safe substance to treat or prevent Covid, the FDA was forced to issue a warning that the substance is indeed NOT safe for consumption, and that any claims that the substance works is false (Saranac Hale Spencer, FactCheck.org).
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Rivera, Kerri. “Archive.is.” Kerririvera.com, https://archive.is/o7hwx/share.
Hale, Spencer Saranac. “Fake Coronavirus Cures, Part 1: MMS Is Industrial Bleach.” FactCheck.org, 9 Apr. 2021, https://www.factcheck.org/2020/02/fake-coronavirus-cures-part-1-mms-is-industrial-bleach/.
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