May 5, 2020
Alongside coronavirus comes another epidemic: disinformation. A huge row is brewing as the Trump administration blames China for unleashing the virus upon the world, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying this weekend there’s “enormous evidence” that coronavirus came from a Chinese lab– a conclusion that does not match the findings of America’s own intelligence agencies. In March, a Chinese government official made his own accusations of culpability, accusing the U.S. military of possibly being behind the virus’s spread. Alex Stamos was formerly the chief of security at Facebook and is now Director of the Stanford Internet Observatory at University. He joins Hari Sreenivasan to talk about the dangers of disinformation campaigns. Originally aired on May 4, 2020.
Transition Studies 