The World Health Organization has called upon social media companies and news outlets to shut down “harmful” information about monkeypox.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director General of the WHO, announced last week that the monkeypox outbreak had become a “public health emergency of international concern,” and confirmed that the outbreak was “concentrated among men who have sex with men, especially those with multiple sex partners.”
In a press conference on Wednesday however, Tedros argued that “stigma and discrimination can be as dangerous as any virus, and can fuel the outbreak.” As a result, he instructed “all social media platforms, tech companies, and news organisations,” to work with them to stop “harmful information” on monkeypox being spread online.
NOW – Tedros calls on all social media platforms to work with the WHO to counter #monkeypox "disinformation." pic.twitter.com/a6O3fRRpbp
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) July 27, 2022
Tedros did not elaborate on what “harmful information” on monkeypox entailed. He directly compared discussion of monkeypox online to the previous spread of “misinformation and disinformation,” regarding COVID-19. The lab-leak theory, once considered as such, resulting in social media bans, was retroactively determined not to be so by the scientific community.
Immediately after he attacked the “harmful information,” he explained that while 98% of all known cases are “among men who have sex with men,” monkeypox can be spread to anybody regardless of their sexual orientation.
The WHO chief recommended that gay men reduce their number of sexual partners, “consider” having sex with new partners that they haven’t had intercourse with before, and ensuring that such sexual contact does not remain anonymous, by noting down contact details with any new partners if they still chose to have sex.
“The focus for all countries must be on engaging and empowering communities of men who have sex with men to reduce the risk of infection and onward transmission, to provide care for those infected, and to safeguard human rights and dignity,” Tedros argued.
Valiant News reported on Tuesday that the Biden White House Covid coordinator Ashish Jha confirmed that the LGBT community was the “most affected” by monkeypox, but also argued that audiences should “not use this moment to propagate homophobic or transphobic messaging.”
“I think that it’s really important to stick to the science, stick to the evidence, and do it in a way that’s respectable to people,” Jha added.
Earlier this week, an executive at the George Soros-run Open Society Foundations admitted that he had caught monkeypox after having sex with multiple men during New York Pride weekend, describing to the Guardian in graphic detail the symptoms of his condition, including anorectal lesions and fissures.
