DISINFO: Greta Thunberg claimed to contract the coronavirus to attract media attention
SUMMARY
The coronavirus has been such a dominant theme over the last few weeks that many people who were used to being in the spotlight are suddenly miserable about another topic forcing them into the background. We can also expect to see desperate moves from environmental activist Greta Thunberg to attract media attention. In case that her star falls, we may hear not only that she suffered from the coronavirus, but also that she has undergone a gender change or similar, because it will be harder and harder for her to draw media attention to herself.
RESPONSE
Conspiracy theory and baseless accusations with no evidence given. This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative targeting environmental activist Greta Thunberg, which exploits the topic of the coronavirus crisis to make its point. The pro-Kremlin media often use crisis situations to spread disinformation about a variety of topics and to push certain pro-Kremlin narratives, with the COVID-19 pandemic being no exception to this rule. Pro-Kremlin outlets frequently spread disinformation about climate change and, in this context, have targeted the international youth climate protests started by the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg. In August 2018, the Greta Thunberg staged a "School Strike for Climate" in front of the Swedish parliament. Later, her strikes inspired youth from all over the world to join a global #FridaysForFuture campaign. The first international school strike was held on Friday, 15 March 2019. Ever since Greta Thunberg has been the target of derogatory commentary from pro-Kremlin media. Read our analysis here. See earlier disinformation cases alleging, that Greta Thunberg is a mouthpiece used by the lobbyists of green energy giants and that the climate mafia is exploiting Greta Thunberg to lower living standards.