OTTAWA — Canada's chief public health doctor is worried about the amount of false information being floated about the COVID-19 pandemic.
Both Tam and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged Canadians to be responsible about the information they share by verifying it first with multiple and official sources.
Staff in the Prime Minister's Office confirmed they respond frequently to queries about fake news. Some of it arises in other countries and is picked up here, sometimes it's Canada-specific.
Trudeau said some of it comes from "foreign actors trying to disrupt successful democracies, others are people with extremist agendas within our countries trying to weaken people's confidence in our institutions and our democracy."
more here: Fake news creates serious issues for battling pandemic, chief public health doc says
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Nearly 700 economists, including seven Nobel winners, are urgently warning against the reelection of President Donald Trump, citing what they describe as a "sustained assault" on democracy, a bumbled response to the pandemic and the spread of "dangerous misinformation."
The economists expressed dismay over Trump's "selfish and reckless behavior" during the pandemic. "Trump's personal behavior during the Covid-19 outbreak endangered public health, the economic recovery, and the safe re-opening of schools," the economists wrote. "He undermined mask use and social distancing, held indoor rallies, encouraged the use of unproven and potentially dangerous medical substances, downplayed the severity of the pandemic, and hosted a superspreader event that incapacitated the White House and forced military leadership into quarantine."
A recent study concluded that Trump was likely the largest driver of Covid-19 misinformation. The economists also say Trump "consistently undermined the independence and credibility of our major health agencies," including the FDA, CDC and National Institutes of Health.
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