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The Exposé

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The Exposé
Home page in October 2022
Type of site
Conspiracy theory[1][2]
Available inEnglish
Country of originUnited Kingdom
OwnerJonathan Allen-Walker
Created byJonathan Allen-Walker
URLexpose-news.com
LaunchedNovember 2020; 4 years ago (2020-11)

The Exposé (formerly known as The Daily Exposé)[3] is a British conspiracist and fake news website created in 2020 by Jonathan Allen-Walker.[1][2] It is known for publishing COVID-19 and anti-vaccine misinformation.[7]

The website became known internationally after Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro cited one of its articles in a speech falsely claiming that COVID-19 vaccines could cause AIDS,[3][2] and after Chinese state media outlets republished one of its articles which falsely claimed that COVID-19 was created by Moderna.[2][6]

History

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The Exposé was created in November 2020 by Jonathan Allen-Walker, a welder from Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire.[1] In March 2021, Twitter suspended the site's main account, but it created several alt accounts to evade its ban. Following its second ban, the site relied on pairs of alt accounts to avoid losing all of its followers or the ability to tweet, and accused Twitter of censorship. As of July 2021, two of the site's alt accounts had approximately 14,000 and 18,000 followers respectively, with 65% of the site's referrals coming from Twitter.[1] As of March 2023, the site's main account had approximately 5,600 followers.[8]

Content

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Ernie Piper of Logically, a British anti-disinformation research organisation, said that The Exposé "was unique both for producing a high volume of original content" and for "[trying] to make it look like they were doing hard-hitting investigative journalism" instead of "twisting the facts to suit conspiracy theories."[2] Piper wrote in July 2021 that the website "has promoted a standard portfolio of COVID-denialist, anti-vaxxer, and Great Reset myths framed as breaking news" since its establishment, noting that the site's writers "often distort or misinterpret the information within the snapshots of the documents they use to push a number of conspiratorial narratives". The website has interviewed fringe figures such as anti-vaccine activist Michael Yeadon.[1]

COVID-19 misinformation

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Further information: COVID-19 misinformation and COVID-19 vaccine misinformation and hesitancy

The Exposé has falsely linked the COVID-19 vaccines to AIDS,[12] miscarriages,[17] monkeypox[22] and hepatitis.[23] The website has also downplayed the number of deaths due to COVID-19 in the United Kingdom[24][25] and falsely claimed that the vaccines are causing mass deaths.[30]

In June 2021, The Exposé falsely claimed that Public Health England (PHE) data proved that more vaccinated people were dying due to COVID-19 than unvaccinated people. The website's claim was debunked by the BBC, Full Fact and Reuters.[31][32][33] The claim was later cited in a Sky News Australia broadcast by host Alan Jones and politician Craig Kelly; Sky News Australia subsequently removed the broadcast and issued a correction on its website.[34]

In October 2021, The Exposé used data published by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), which misleadingly indicated that COVID-19 infection rates were higher among fully-vaccinated than unvaccinated people, to falsely claim in several articles that the vaccines were not only ineffective but were also causing vaccinated people to develop AIDS "much faster than anticipated".[3][9] The articles were widely shared on social media across the world,[3][9] and one such article was cited by Before It's News, a fake news website,[35] which was subsequently used as a source by Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro in a speech.[3][9][2] The video of Bolsonaro's speech was removed from Facebook, Instagram and YouTube for violating their policies regarding COVID-19 vaccines.[36][37][38]

In March 2022, The Exposé falsely claimed that a study proved "beyond a reasonable doubt" that COVID-19 had been created by Moderna.[6][39][40] The study, which was published in the Frontiers in Virology research journal, said that Moderna had patented a 19 nucleotide genetic sequence uniquely matching a part of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein three years prior to the pandemic, arguing it was evidence that the virus was manufactured as part of a lab leak conspiracy.[6][40] The study has been widely derided for its misunderstanding of statistical likelihood, particularly as the 19 nucleotide sequence is not unique to SARS-CoV-2, and is also found in organisms like bacteria and birds.[40][41] The Exposé's article was republished by Chinese state media outlets, including China Daily and Global Times,[2][6] and was shared on Twitter by a counselor for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Department of Information.[2][42]

In July 2022, The Exposé posted a graph indicating that 94% of deaths due to COVID-19 in England between April 1 and May 31 were among those who were vaccinated.[43][44] The graph was widely shared on social media.[43] Reuters and Lead Stories found that the statistic by itself was misleading as it failed to acknowledge the country's vaccination rate.[43][44]

In September 2022, The Exposé falsely claimed that the COVID-19 vaccines contain graphene oxide.[45]

Operation

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Ernie Piper of Logically wrote in July 2021 that the website's finances and number of contributors, and whether it had permanent staff besides Allen-Walker, were "unclear". The website has run monthly fundraising campaigns since February 2021 on its home page, Twitter and Telegram, with sporadic campaigns on other platforms such as Buy Me a Coffee and GoFundMe.[1]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Piper, Ernie (22 July 2021). "EXCLUSIVE: Actors Behind UK Misinformation Site The Daily Expose Revealed". Logically. Archived from the original on 21 September 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Cockerell, Isobel (25 March 2022). "British homegrown conspiracies get Beijing's stamp of approval". Coda Media. Archived from the original on 5 June 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Benedictus, Leo (5 November 2021). "How the UK Health Security Agency's misleading data fuelled a global vaccine myth". Full Fact. Archived from the original on 17 October 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  4. ^ "The COVID-19 vaccines protect people from severe COVID-19 and don't weaken the immune system". Health Feedback. 28 January 2022. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  5. ^ "Fact Check-UK data does not show COVID-19 vaccination increases chance of death from virus". Reuters. 17 March 2022. Archived from the original on 10 August 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Zhang, Legu; Echols, William (1 April 2022). "Made by Moderna? China Spreads Yet Another Debunked COVID-19 Conspiracy Theory". Polygraph.info. Archived from the original on 8 July 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  7. ^ [1][3][4][5][6]
  8. ^ "The Exposé News". Twitter. Archived from the original on 5 March 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  9. ^ a b c d "Article by The Exposé failed to account for caveats listed in U.K. vaccine surveillance reports; falsely claims fully vaccinated people have weakened immunity". Health Feedback. 5 November 2021. Archived from the original on 19 October 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  10. ^ "Vaccinated Germans won't have AIDS by the end of January 2022". Full Fact. 10 January 2022. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  11. ^ "Claim Covid-19 vaccine is giving people AIDS is False". The Ferret. 24 February 2022. Archived from the original on 8 February 2023. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  12. ^ [3][9][10][11][6]
  13. ^ Fauzia, Miriam (12 April 2021). "Fact check: No evidence of miscarriage surge since vaccine rollout". USA Today. Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  14. ^ "Website makes false claims about vaccines and miscarriages". Full Fact. 28 June 2021. Archived from the original on 10 August 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  15. ^ "Study did not show 82% of pregnancies end in miscarriage after Covid vaccination". Full Fact. 3 August 2021. Archived from the original on 8 February 2023. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  16. ^ Furtado, Annet Preethi (25 August 2022). "False: A confidential Pfizer document reveals that 82-97 percent of pregnant women who received the company's COVID-19 vaccine "lost their babies."". Logically. Archived from the original on 8 February 2023. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  17. ^ [13][14][15][16]
  18. ^ Vitelli, Laura (1 June 2022). "False: The recent outbreaks of Monkeypox are cover-ups for adverse reactions to the COVID-19 vaccine". Logically. Archived from the original on 8 February 2023. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  19. ^ Czopek, Madison (29 July 2022). "There's no evidence the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is connected to the monkeypox outbreak". PolitiFact. Archived from the original on 8 February 2023. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  20. ^ Kochi, Sudiksha (9 August 2022). "Fact check: Monkeypox is not a side effect of the COVID-19 vaccine, experts say". USA Today. Archived from the original on 13 March 2023. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  21. ^ Kochi, Sudiksha (14 September 2022). "Fact check: Baseless conspiracy theory about monkeypox, Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine and 'Great Reset'". USA Today. Archived from the original on 8 February 2023. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  22. ^ [18][19][20][21]
  23. ^ Savage, Claire (5 May 2022). "Hepatitis outbreak in children misleadingly linked to Covid-19 vaccination". Agence France-Presse. Archived from the original on 8 February 2023. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  24. ^ "Many more than 3,000 people have died of Covid-19". Full Fact. 22 February 2021. Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  25. ^ "Covid: Posts claiming only 17,000 died of virus 'factually incorrect'". BBC News. 29 January 2022. Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  26. ^ Kasprak, Alex (20 December 2022). "Did CDC Confirm That Thousands 'Died Suddenly' as a Result of COVID Vaccines?". Snopes. Archived from the original on 28 February 2023. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  27. ^ Trela, Nate (23 December 2022). "Fact check: False claim COVID-19 vaccines caused 1.1 million deaths". USA Today. Archived from the original on 8 February 2023. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  28. ^ Kochi, Sudiksha (23 January 2023). "Fact check: Post wrongly claims 118,000 'died suddenly' after COVID-19 vaccine release". USA Today. Archived from the original on 8 February 2023. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  29. ^ "CDC data shows that COVID-19 is a major cause of excess deaths in the U.S., contrary to Exposé article ascribing deaths to COVID-19 vaccines". Health Feedback. 24 January 2023. Archived from the original on 8 February 2023. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  30. ^ [1][26][27][28][29]
  31. ^ "Covid: Misleading stat claims more vaccinated people die". BBC News. 1 July 2021. Archived from the original on 31 October 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  32. ^ "Vaccinated people sometimes die of Covid-19—but very rarely". Full Fact. 2 July 2021. Archived from the original on 4 December 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  33. ^ "Fact Check-England's COVID-19 death statistics do not suggest vaccines aren't working". Reuters. 7 July 2021. Archived from the original on 4 December 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  34. ^ "Ep 24 - Dangerous and misleading". ABC News Australia. 19 July 2021. Archived from the original on 4 December 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  35. ^ Clifton, Eli (26 May 2020). "This NBC Executive Became a Conspiracy King and a Pro-Trump Media Boss". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 5 August 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2022. Since 2010, Kitze's company, BeforeItsNews.com, an early fake news site...
  36. ^ Biller, David (25 October 2021). "Facebook yanks Bolsonaro video claiming vaccines cause AIDS". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 22 October 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  37. ^ "Facebook, YouTube remove Bolsonaro video over vaccine claims". Al Jazeera. 26 October 2021. Archived from the original on 22 October 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  38. ^ "Facebook yanks Bolsonaro video claiming vaccines cause AIDS". NBC News. Reuters. 26 October 2021. Archived from the original on 22 October 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  39. ^ Savage, Claire (24 March 2022). "Scientific paper does not prove Moderna 'created' coronavirus". Agence France-Presse. Archived from the original on 10 August 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  40. ^ a b c Cercone, Jeff (14 March 2022). "No, study doesn't prove Moderna 'created' COVID-19". PolitiFact. Archived from the original on 10 August 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  41. ^ "Short identical gene sequence in SARS-CoV-2 and a gene sequence patented by Moderna can be found in other organisms; not evidence that virus was engineered". Health Feedback. 2 March 2022. Archived from the original on 20 September 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  42. ^ Carter, Cindy (26 March 2022). "COVID Conspiracies, Hashtag Suppression, and a Broadside Aimed at the "Great Translation Movement"". China Digital Times. Archived from the original on 24 December 2022. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  43. ^ a b c "Fact Check-Graph showing England's COVID-19 death statistics misrepresents impact of vaccines". Reuters. 20 July 2022. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  44. ^ a b Payne, Ed (13 July 2022). "Fact Check: High Vaccination Rate Explains Why 94% Of English COVID Deaths Are Among Fully Vaccinated -- Numbers Only Part Of Full Story | Lead Stories". Lead Stories. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  45. ^ Jeffrey, Eiddwen (10 October 2022). "DNA manipulation and 5G? Another COVID-19 myth busted". RMIT FactLab. Archived from the original on 30 October 2022. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
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