SharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingimage copyrightCecilia Tombesi/BBCFalse information from the mouths of politicians and preachers is reaching remote villages in the Amazon via WhatsApp, reports BBC News Brasil’s Juliana Gragnani.A helicopter loaded with health workers and coronavirus vaccine doses took off from Labrea, in the southern part of the Amazon, heading to a village some 50km away. But the villagers, part of the indigenous Jamamadi group, greeted the chopper armed with bows and arrows – and demanded that it leave. They’d been hearing false rumours about vaccines and wanted reassurances from a religious missionary – not doctors – before getting jabbed. The helicopter left without administering any of the doses. Fragile relationshipThe incident in early February was described to BBC News Brasil by several sources who asked not to be identified for fear of upsetting the fragile relationship between health teams and indigenous people. The people we spoke to say that armed welcoming parties are very rare, but they are worried about vaccine rumours being spread to indigenous people through mobile phones.image copyrightREUTERS/Bruno KellyMany mobile phone operators in Brazil include free use of Facebook and Facebook-owned Instagram and WhatsApp in their payment plans, whereas use of other networks and websites incurs a cost. WhatsApp – a common source of community and family news – presents a particular problem, experts say.Information on chat apps tends to come from people closer to us, who we instinctively trust – but data packages discourage people, particularly the cash-strapped, from double-checking health information.Indigenous journalist Anapuaka Tupinamba says WhatsApp enabled “a leap” for indigenous people in the areas of politics and education, but calls technology “a double-edged sword”. “What we have today is a ‘fake’ internet. When you see fake news, you can’t check it,” Anapuaka says. “So it feels like I’m on the internet, but not really. I’m almost on the intranet of a large company.”Anapuaka cites one recent example circulated on the app – a story about 900 indigenous Xingu people dying after receiving a vaccine. It was false. Sources of infoMuch of the bad vaccine information circulating on WhatsApp originates not from the villagers themselves but from politicians and religious leaders. image copyrightAndyara Machado Rodrigues/DivulgaçãoThis includes Brazil’s President. “Nobody can force me to get the vaccine,” Jair Bolsonaro said in September. The following month, he declared: “The Brazilian people will not be anyone’s guinea pig”. He wasn’t going to get the vaccine, he said, “and that’s it.”He appeared to echo bizarre and false claims, common in anti-vaccine groups online, about Covid vaccines altering people’s DNA.”If you become an alligator, it’s your problem … if a woman grows a beard or a man starts to speak with a thin voice, they [pharmaceutical companies] will have nothing to do with it.”It was those kinds of statements that resonated most with indigenous communities, says Indianara Machado, a nurse from Brazil’s Central-West region.”People in the village ask themselves: ‘If the president didn’t take it [the vaccine], how are we going to take it?'” she says.’The beast’s chip’Religious missionaries and evangelical churches have influence in indigenous territories, and some – though certainly not all – have also spread vaccine falsehoods. Indianara Machado says that many of the videos that went viral were of indigenous pastors holding services telling people not to get the vaccine, declaring it was “the beast’s microchip” – calling to mind fake rumours that vaccines include chips that can track and enslave people. Pastor Henrique Terena, president of the National Council of Evangelical Indigenous Pastors and Leaders, admits that in the Central-West region there is “a neo-Pentecostal segment that says that vaccines are not good, that they are from the devil, and they tell their members they shouldn’t get the jab.”But he says his members are by and large not the problem, and he says anti-vaccine pastors only “claim” to be evangelical. The Anti-Vax FilesThe Anti-Vax Files: A new series from BBC Trending, on the World Service from 05:30 GMT Saturday. Download the podcast or listen online Video disinformationOnline misinformation convinced Joel Paumari’s parents that Covid vaccines were unsafe. He’s a teaching coordinator in the Amazon region, and his concern for his parents grew as he saw a rise in the number of deaths of indigenous people. According to official figures, more than 650 indigenous people living in villages have died due to Covid-19 out of a total population of 517,000. Across Brazil, around 400,000 people have died. In raw numbers, the country’s death toll is second only to the United States.image copyrightJoel PaumariJoel says that his parents saw videos that included false claims about drugs, about vaccines “distancing” people from God, and those rumours about DNA and genetic codes. All of them were untrue.It took three days of pleading WhatsApp voice notes to convince his parents to take the jab – and while they did in the end, Joel’s brother did not.image copyrightAdriano Gambarini/OPANLimited forwardingAudio, text and videos with disinformation have spread across Brazilian WhatsApp groups for years, and played a part in the 2018 elections.Since then, the company has limited message sharing to five times and inserted a tag that shows when a message has been forwarded multiple times. WhatsApp told BBC News Brasil that since it’s encrypted, the company doesn’t have access to the content of the messages. And the company says it has acted to combat misinformation, for instance by launching free services with information about Covid-19 within the app.Vaccine hesitation Still, disinformation appears to be having an impact on vaccine uptake in indigenous villages. The villagers are a priority group when it comes to Covid vaccination, and statistics indicate that 75% have received at least one vaccine dose.But that lags behind other recent vaccine drives.BBC News Brasil obtained, via Brazil’s Access to Information law, data on the immunisation of indigenous people in Brazil since 2011. We found that virtually all previous vaccines drives had a 90% take-up rate. After a decade-long campaign to build trust, take-up of the flu vaccine reached 90% in 2019. What’s more, that level was reached within a month. By contrast, the current Covid-19 campaign began in mid-January – more than three months ago.The government remains optimistic, however. The office of Brazil’s Special Secretary for Indigenous Health noted that it has a workforce of 14,000 indigenous health professionals. “Indigenous vaccination continues at a favourable pace,” it said. image copyrightAdriano Gambarini/OPANMissionariesThe Jamamadi – who met the helicopter armed with bows and arrows – are one group who’ve been strongly influenced by missionaries from the United States in recent decades. By contrast, according to anthropologist Miguel Aparicio, the Banawa people, who are neighbours to the Jamamadi, have been fully vaccinated. The difference? “The missionary presence within the Banawa is not strong,” he says.But a few days after the rejection of the jabs, a Jamamadi chief made contact with health officials saying he wanted to get the vaccine. The team returned and vaccinated some villagers. But that’s not quite the end of the story – most of the Jamamadi have not yet had a jab.Follow Juliana on TwitterListen to The Anti-Vax Files from BBC Trending, on the World Service. Download the podcast or listen online.

SharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingimage copyrightYouTubeA charismatic anti-vaccination campaigner has gained popularity by claiming that medical science’s approach to the pandemic is entirely wrong. But critics say Biswaroop Roy Chowdhury is endangering lives by falsely claiming he can cure Covid-19 through diet alone, report Ed Main and Reha Kansara.Biswaroop Roy Chowdhury is not one to hold back.”According to me, most deaths are not because of coronavirus itself but because of its treatment,” he says in one video on his website.The Indian social media star – or former social media star, now that he’s banned on several platforms – asserts that conventional medicine is a conspiracy designed to line the pockets of doctors and big business. image copyrightEPA”Drugs do not help in curing any illness,” he told the BBC. “I strongly believe that humans do not need vaccines at all.”In his videos, he claims his diet plans, rich in fruits and vegetables, will cure not only Covid-19, but diabetes and Aids.Medical science says all of this is nonsense. But Mr Chowdhury has used the pandemic to spread his messages.He teaches his followers that hospitals increase their chances of dying and says that Covid patients with breathing difficulties would do better sitting in front of a handheld fan than receiving oxygen.To his many critics, he is a dangerous fraud whose bad advice can only further fuel India’s horrific second wave of coronavirus.image copyrightReuters”Biswaroop Roy Chowdhury is a quack,” says Dr Sumaiya Shaikh, science editor of the Indian fact-checking website Alt News. “He has a huge following and that makes him even more dangerous.”It’s a following that has been cultivated through numerous books, online videos and courses and packed-out live events. India Covid crisis: Hospitals buckle under record surgeWhat is the India Covid variant and will vaccines work?Covid: India on UK travel red list as Covid crisis growsYouTube, Twitter and Facebook banned Mr Chowdhury last year, but not before he assembled an army of followers – nearly one million on YouTube alone before his account was deleted.He still has official channels on WhatsApp and Telegram. Biswaroop’s fans are also uploading and spreading his content on proxy accounts. WhatsApp told us they are working hard to limit the spread of false coronavirus information on their platform. Telegram didn’t respond to a request for comment.A gift for publicityMr Chowdhury presents himself as a plucky underdog figure pitted against a medical establishment intent on deceiving the public.Covid-19 is “just like normal flu” he asserts – despite the fact it’s actually significantly deadlier. And despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, he claims that face masks don’t help stop the spread of virus and will actually make wearers ill. He has co-opted the Urdu word azaadi, meaning “freedom” – a rallying cry that resonates with many oppressed communities in India, for his slogan “masks se azaadi” (“freedom from masks”).image copyrightYouTubeIn one of his several coronavirus e-books, Mr Chowdhury offers 100,000 rupees (about £960; $1,300) to anyone who “can prove that vaccines have ever helped anyone in any way”.There is, of course, a vast literature of medical research stretching back decades that documents how vaccines have helped control and even eradicate diseases all over the world. But Mr Chowdhury discounts it entirely.Diet cure claimsMr Chowdhury started developing his controversial diet “cures” about a decade ago. It’s just one strand of a colourful and varied career. After training as an engineer, he dabbled in Bollywood film-making and even cast himself as the star in one movie.He is also the chief editor and founder of both the India and Asia Book of Records which is modelled on, but not affiliated with, the Guinness Book of Records.Nilesh Christopher, a journalist with the tech website Rest of World, says Mr Chowdhury became interested in nutrition when his wife couldn’t shake a flu-like illness.”What he told me was, he was running around from pillar to post, visiting doctors, and trying to figure out a cure for it, but he couldn’t,” he says. “That is when he goes into this mode of self-learning and he claims to have read research papers and figured out this magic formula which is coconut water, citrus fruits and vegetables.”The Anti-Vax FilesThe Anti-Vax Files: A new series from BBC Trending, on the World Service weekly from 05:30 GMT Saturday. Download the podcast or listen online India has a long tradition of Ayurvedic medicine, which uses food and herbal treatments to treat ailments. But Mr Chowdhury has made a series of outrageous and fantastical claims for the miraculous effects that can supposedly be achieved by patients who follow his advice.”He is definitely one of the biggest most prominent quacks in India,” says Mr Christopher. When Covid-19 appeared, Mr Chowdhury quickly declared it an “influenza-like illness” that could be cured by his pre-existing three-step flu diet. He set up a consultation service where patients are charged 500 rupees (£4.80; $6.70) to receive a diet plan.”He’s built a massive digital empire through online nutrition courses, certification programmes and consultancy services and that’s his business model,” says Mr Christopher. “That doesn’t change, no matter what the disease you throw at him.” Mr Chowdhury says he has cured more than 50,000 people of Covid-19 without any fatalities. But Dr Arun Gupta, President of the Delhi Medical Council points out that most people will recover from the virus regardless of what they eat.”If you claim you take 100 patients and I claim that I cure all of you, you see 97 per cent are going to get cured, even without any intervention,” he says. Dr Gupta says more should be done to stop the spread of such misinformation. “It is the responsibility of the government to take a note of it and make sure these people are contained,” he says.Mr Chowdhury stands by his methods and rejects allegations that his teachings put people at risk. “Are they giving any evidence? I don’t think so,” he told the BBC.Criminal complaintHowever, the nutritionist is under investigation for one specific claim that his methods have caused real life harm. Jaideep Bihani, from Delhi, has made a criminal complaint against Mr Chowdhury over the death of his mother Shanti in August 2017.Mr Bihani told the BBC he blamed Mr Chowdhury for her death “100%”.image copyrightJaideep BihaniMrs Bihani, 56, was suffering from diabetes, and heart and thyroid problems. After discovering Mr Chowdhury on the web, Mr Bihani paid hundreds of dollars to take his mother to a three-day event to learn his diabetes cure.The event was held at a holistic sanctuary on the outskirts of Delhi. A video of the first evening shows Mr Chowdhury urging his audience to stop taking their medicines.”I’ve got a box with me, it is called the medical orange box… All the medicines, we will put here and put a lock [on it]. So I hope you will never need those medicines again,” he said.Mr Chowdhury told the audience that patients who were in very poor health, like Shanti Bihani, would be monitored and given back some medicine if needed – but that food would act as their primary medication going forward. image copyrightJaideep Bihani”The moment you have your first diet, that will make you heart attack proof from that time,” he told the assembly. Mrs Bihani had been taking a range of medicines, but into the large orange box they went. The next day she complained of feeling drowsy and later collapsed. Eventually she was taken to hospital where she died after suffering a heart attack.In his criminal complaint, Mr Bihani accuses Mr Chowdhury of falsely claiming to be a medical practitioner, offering fraudulent treatments and failing to provide emergency care at the course. Mr Chowdhury denies all this. image copyrightJaideep BihaniThe most prominent qualification listed on Biswaroop’s website is an honorary PHD in diabetes, from Alliance International University, Zambia. It’s an institution that according to its website is headquartered not in Africa but in the Caribbean. This degree appears to be why Mr Chowdhury calls himself a doctor, although he didn’t answer our questions about this issue.In response to Mr Bihani’s allegations, a spokesperson for Mr Chowdhury told us that Mrs Bihani was a very ill woman who had been chewing paan masala, a mild but addictive stimulant made with areca nut and other substances. Her son denies that she was during the course.The spokesperson for Mr Chowdhury also said Mr Bihani had his mother’s medications on him throughout the course. But Mr Bihani also denies this was the case. Mr Bihani said he hoped his experiences should be a warning to anybody thinking of following Mr Chowdhury’s advice.”Watching my father every day just alone at this age, and watching my kids not being there with grandmum – you know, I can’t even tell you what I feel.” With reporting from Shruti Menon in Delhi.Listen to The Anti-Vax Files from BBC Trending, on the World Service. Download the podcast or listen online.

SharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingimage copyrightEPAA German anti-lockdown, anti-vaccine movement with links to the far right has recruited hundreds of children into a private online group, reports Jessica Bateman.The girl with the loudspeaker doesn’t look much older than 15. “I’ve spoken at these demonstrations [before],” she says, before launching into a tirade against the German government’s lockdown restrictions and vaccination programme. “They say, ‘We have to lock them up! Have them vaccinated! Only then will they be allowed out again!'” she bellows, adding that she was escorted from her school by police for refusing to comply with restrictions.The girl was speaking at one of a series of demonstrations organised by Querdenken, Germany’s anti-lockdown movement. Roughly translated as “lateral thinkers”, it’s a loose-knit coalition that pushes baseless conspiracy theories – such as the idea masks are deadly or that vaccines will alter your DNA. And YouTube videos like this one, and others of other teenagers speaking at events, are frequently shared on social media.How have children become so heavily involved in a controversial movement? We’ve been investigating a private group for under-18s on the chat app Telegram, run by one of Querdenken’s most popular figures.Who are they?The Querdenken movement first sprung up last summer and gained international notoriety when one of its Berlin demonstrations ended with protestors storming the German parliament. The group claims to have no party political affiliation, but several of its key figures have well-documented far-right connections. Querdenken draws in a range of supporters – not only from the far-right, but a motley crew of hippies, spiritualists and some evangelical Christians. Hundreds arrested in German ‘anti-corona’ protestsWater cannon breaks up Covid protest in BerlinGlobetrotting fake newsIt has spawned a new crop of social media celebrities who push disinformation, sell branded merchandise and solicit donations from their followers. One of these is Samuel Eckert, a former evangelical preacher, who runs a public Telegram channel with more than 120,000 subscribers. image copyrightTelegramAccording to computer scientist Josef Holnburger, who has studied the movement’s rise, it’s one of the most popular Telegram channels in Germany. And Eckert also regularly promotes a second, private channel called “SE Youngsters,” which he says is for children and teenagers aged 10 to 17 – even though the minimum age for using Telegram is 16. On Eckert’s website, there’s a sign-up page and a verification process to ensure the interested child really is under 18. Telegram did not respond to our questions about the group.The Anti-Vax FilesThe Anti-Vax Files: A new series from BBC Trending, on the World Service from 05:30 GMT Saturday. Download the podcast or listen online Inside informationThe BBC spoke to an online activist who gained access to the channel via an insider. He describes an echo chamber of increasingly extreme Covid conspiracy theories, alongside talk of deteriorating mental health, school exclusion and bullying.Our source remains anonymous for safety reasons and goes by the name DatenLiebe (“Data Love”) online. He’s been accessing the group – which has more than 300 members – since last autumn. “What surprised me was that the children were having very casual conversations, they were talking about the weather, or about their pets… like totally undangerous stuff,” he says. “But they are also forwarding content from dangerous Telegram channels, like QAnon.”image copyrightTelegramAccording to DatenLiebe, practically “every type” of anti-vax or anti-Covid conspiracy you can think of is circulating in the group. “They say pretty clearly that they either don’t think that coronavirus exists, or that it’s just the flu,” he says. He also says the members have “a strong distrust in state institutions” and most believe Covid-19 vaccines either don’t work or are more harmful than the disease itself.And he’s also tracked stories of the children’s beliefs causing them trouble in their personal lives. Several members of the group have said that they dropped out of school because they can’t handle the pressure around mask regulations, or have been bullied by their classmates.WATCH: Covid vaccine myths bustedThe unfounded claims about vaccines and fertilityThe vaccine misinformation battle raging in France What is QAnon?We spoke to the mother of two girls who are members of the group. Like her daughters, she also believes Covid-19 is no more dangerous than flu, even though overwhelming evidence indicates it’s both more deadly and can result in long-term health problems.The mother also says she doesn’t plan to take a Covid-19 vaccine. However, she’s adamant that her daughters came to their views independently and aren’t being influenced by her or exploited by Samuel Eckert and the Querdenken movement. “We always taught them to think for themselves,” she says.She says her children changed schools – which she describes as a “traumatic” experience for them – after disputes over masks and their involvement in Querdenken demos.Children as propagandaThe safety of children has long been a powerful narrative in conspiracy theories, from the anti-Semitic “blood libel” which falsely accused Jews of murdering children, to the present day QAnon which claims world leaders are involved in child sex trafficking. At the same time, many parents have legitimate concerns about how lockdown measures, including school closures and social distancing, have affected their children’s mental health and education. Journalist Marc Röhig, from the German magazine Der Spiegel, believes Eckert is trying to exploit these fears. “His main target is concerned parents,” he says. “You can have two narratives. One is to fight for your own freedom… But you can also say, let’s fight for our children and for their future.”image copyrightEPAEckert did not respond to any of our requests for comment. However, he says on his social media accounts that the Telegram group is simply for Covid-sceptic young people to meet and support one another. He’s not shy about using them for his own content, too. He set up a dedicated YouTube channel for videos of their speeches, and the children often appear with him at events or on his video livestreams.While experts say the Querdenken movement doesn’t appear to be getting much bigger, it may be becoming more radical. Officials in the state of Baden Württemberg, in Germany’s south-west, have put the group under surveillance as a potential security threat. And protestors are becoming more extreme in their actions, attacking journalists at demonstrations and even targeting vaccination centres.”I’m really concerned about it, because those are real kids,” says DatenLiebe, the inside source. “And they go to real schools and they feel physical pain from a reality that doesn’t exist.”Listen to The Anti-Vax Files from BBC Trending, on the World Service from 05:30 GMT Saturday. Download the podcast or listen online.