| Planet Lockdown | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | James Patrick |
| Starring | Catherine Austin Fitts |
Release date |
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Running time | 90 minutes |
| Language | English |
Planet Lockdown is a film containing misinformation about COVID-19 that was banned on YouTube and Facebook. [1]
The film's producers describe it as a documentary.
The 90-minute [2] film was directed by James Patrick, [3] and released online in December 2020. [1] In addition to being shared on social media, the video was released on the Planet Lockdown website. [4] The video's producers describe it as a documentary. [5] A feature-length cut of the film premiered on November 20, 2021 at an event hosted by the Arlington Institute at Coolfont Resort in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. [6]
Planet Lockdown presents a wide range of falsehoods about COVID-19, including incorrect statements linking COVID-19 and human infertility, and misinformation alleging that vaccines contain microchips. The film also perpetuates myths about voter fraud during the 2020 United States presidential election. [1]
The film includes an interview with Catherine Austin Fitts in which she shares her view that a global committee is engaged in mind control efforts, led by a character she identifies as Mr Global. Fitts also shares falsehoods that COVID-19 vaccines contain unknown ingredients. [1] In addition to incorrectly stating that the COVID-19 is not real, Fitts also shares political conspiracy theories about electoral fraud during the 2020 U.S. presidential election. [2] Other interviewees include QAnon supporting physician Carrie Madej, lawyer Markus Haintz, and COVID-19 herd-immunity supporting epidemiologist Knut Wittkowski. [2]
In late 2020 and early 2021, the video was shared over 20 million times on Facebook and YouTube. [1] [7] Notable promoters of the video include Robert F. Kennedy Jr. [1] [5]
After a February analysis of the video by Media Matters for America, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube started removing the video from their platforms and GoFundMe removed a fundraising page to cover production costs. [1]
Vice News described the video as "almost a carbon copy" of the 2020 conspiracy theory video Plandemic . [2]
New Tang Dynasty Television is a multilingual American television broadcaster founded by adherents of the Falun Gong new religious movement and based in New York City. The station was founded in 2001 as a Chinese-language broadcaster, but has since expanded its language offerings; in July 2020, it launched its 24/7 English channel which now broadcasts nationwide in the U.S. and UK. It is under the Epoch Media Group, a consortium which also includes the newspaper The Epoch Times. The Epoch Media Group's news sites and YouTube channels have promoted conspiracy theories such as QAnon, anti-vaccine misinformation and false claims of fraud in the 2020 United States presidential election.
Judy Anne Mikovits is an American former research scientist who has made discredited medical claims, such as that murine endogenous retroviruses are found in blood samples of most patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). As an outgrowth of these claims, she has engaged in anti-vaccination activism, promoted conspiracy theories, and been accused of scientific misconduct. She has made false claims about vaccines, COVID-19, and ME/CFS, among others.
Big Pharma conspiracy theories are conspiracy theories that claim that pharmaceutical companies as a whole, especially big corporations, act in dangerously secretive and sinister ways that harm patients. This includes concealing effective treatments, perhaps even to the point of intentionally causing and/or worsening a wide range of diseases, in the pursuit of higher profits and/or other nefarious goals. The general public supposedly lives in a state of ignorance, according to such claims.
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America's Frontline Doctors (AFLDS) is an American right-wing political organization. Affiliated with Tea Party Patriots co-founder Jenny Beth Martin and publicly led by Simone Gold, the group is opposed to measures intended to control the COVID-19 pandemic, such as business closures, stay-at-home orders, and vaccination. The group promotes falsehoods about the COVID-19 pandemic and COVID-19 vaccines.
Kay Allison "Kate" Shemirani is a British conspiracy theorist, anti-vaccine activist and former nurse who lost her licence to practise in 2020 for misconduct. She is best known for promoting conspiracy theories about COVID-19, vaccinations and 5G technology. Shemirani has been described by The Jewish Chronicle as a leading figure of a movement that includes conspiracy theorists as well as far-left and far-right activists.
During the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, many people began to spread false or un-confirmed data and information. This included politicians and other government officials from administrations in several countries. Misinformation about the virus includes its origin, how it spreads, and methods of preventing and curing the disease. Some downplayed the threat of the pandemic, and made false statements about preventative measures, death rates and testing within their own countries. Some have also spread COVID-19 vaccine misinformation. Changing policies also created confusion and contributed to the spread of misinformation. For example, the World Health Organization (WHO) originally discouraged use of face masks by the general public in early 2020, advising "If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with suspected 2019-nCoV infection," although the WHO later changed their advice to encourage public wearing of face masks.
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Simone Melissa Gold is an American doctor and anti-vaccine activist. She is the founder of America's Frontline Doctors, a right-wing political organization known for spreading misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic. Before her arrest and guilty plea for participating in the 2021 United States Capitol attack, she had gained attention when a video of an America's Frontline Doctors press conference in front of the US Supreme Court Building went viral in July 2020. During the press conference, she touted the supposed benefits of hydroxychloroquine, despite evidence that it is ineffective as a COVID-19 treatment and can carry significant risks.
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Douglas Sayer Ji is the founder of alternative medicine portal GreenMedInfo, a website known for promoting various pseudoscientific publications. He was identified in 2020 as one of the largest promoters of COVID-19 misinformation on social media.
Erin Elizabeth Finn, known as Erin Elizabeth, is an American alternative health advocate who blogs under the name Health Nut News. She is known for propagating conspiracy theories relating to healthcare topics, like COVID-19 and vaccines. She and her partner Joseph Mercola have been called two of the "disinformation dozen" responsible for 65% of Covid-19 anti-vaccine misinformation on the internet and social media, according to a report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) in 2021.
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This timeline includes entries on the spread of COVID-19 misinformation and conspiracy theories related to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. This includes investigations into the origin of COVID-19, and the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 which is caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2. Social media apps and platforms, including Facebook, TikTok, Telegram, and YouTube, have contributed to the spread of misinformation. The Canadian Anti-Hate Network (CAHN) reported that conspiracy theories related to COVID-19 began on "day one". CAHN reported on March 16, 2020, that far-right groups in Canada were taking advantage of the climate of anxiety and fear surrounding COVID, to recycle variations of conspiracies from the 1990s, that people had shared over shortwave radio. COVID-19 disinformation is intentional and seeks to create uncertainty and confusion. But most of the misinformation is shared online unintentionally by enthusiastic participants who are politically active.
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