(Reclaim The Net) The World Health Organization (WHO), an unelected health agency that was given sweeping censorship powers during the COVID-19 pandemic, has called for all social media platforms to work with it to “prevent and counter” monkeypox “misinformation” and “disinformation.”
During a COVID-19 press briefing, WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, claimed that “stigma and discrimination can be as dangerous as any virus, and can fuel the outbreak.”
He continued by invoking so-called COVID-19 misinformation and disinformation and urged “all social media platforms, tech companies, and news organizations to work with us to prevent and counter harmful information.”
While Dr. Tedros didn’t specify which statements he wanted Big Tech to suppress under his proposed monkeypox misinformation censorship plan, numerous media outlets have complained that those who call monkeypox a “gay disease” or frame monkeypox as “exclusively affecting men who have sex with men” are spreading misinformation.
Tedros didn’t go as far as calling these statements misinformation but he did follow up his call for the censorship of monkeypox misinformation by discussing monkeypox cases and transmission.
“Although 98% of cases so far are among men who have sex with men, anyone exposed can get monkeypox, which is why WHO recommends that countries take action to reduce the risk of transmission to other vulnerable groups, including children, pregnant women, and those who are immunosuppressed,” Dr. Tedros said. “In addition to transmission through sexual contact, monkeypox can be spread in households through close contact between people, such as hugging and kissing, and on contaminated towels or bedding.”