People don't trust the CDC. Here's one example illustrating why. Two weeks ago, with no outcomes data on COVID-19 booster shots for 5-to-11-year-olds, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) vigorously recommended the booster for all 24 million American children in that age group. The CDC cited a small Pfizer study of 140 children that showed boosters elevated their antibody levels—an outcome known to be transitory.

Ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug used as the primary ingredient in canine heartworm preventatives, was touted as a “new tool” in the “arsenal” against SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus strain responsible for the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Media publications like far-right cable channel OAN touted the drug as a “cure” that could kill the virus in “just 48 hours.”

Our analysis determined that this claim is a mixture of half-truths combined with misleading and overzealous claims.

Social media users are falsely claiming that a Swedish study conducted by Lund University found that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines permanently alter human DNA.

The text in one post reads: “BOMBSHELL: Biological Study PROVES Pfizer mRNA Vaccine Permanently Alters Human DNA”.

The posts share articles such as ones archived (here) and (here) saying the study, which was published in the Current Issues in Molecular Biology, shows mRNA from the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine can enter human liver cells and convert to DNA as quickly as six hours after receiving a dose.

Following the publication of an  article from National Public Radio about an increase in stroke rates among young people, anti-vaccine figures on social media were quick to raise speculation about the coronavirus vaccine’s role in the increase. 

During his hour-long conversation with Daily Wire editor emeritus Ben Shapiro, HBO host Bill Maher hit the liberal media for spreading misinformation about COVID-19 risks.

Another week, another platform in trouble for allowing its talent to give voice to misinformation. This time, Joe Rogan suggested that the mRNA Covid-19 vaccines are a type of “gene therapy” and that young people are at a greater risk from the shots than the disease, among other false and dubious health claims featured on his popular, Spotify-hosted podcast. The calls to remove his podcast have only intensified after revelations that he’s also repeatedly used a racist slur on the show, leading Spotify’s chief to apologize to the company’s employees.

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis addressed the Spotify controversy with Joe Rogan in an interview this week, telling the popular podcaster “do not apologize” to the cancel culture mob.

DeSantis shared the strong words during an interview with Fox News Digital in response to attacks from mainstream media.

There have been many unpleasant paid jobs throughout history, from executioner to leech collector to nitpicker. Now, to this litany of gruesome and onerous work must be added being employed by Spotify in the 21st century.

The CEO of the streaming company, besieged by a highly motivated cancellation mob out for podcaster Joe Rogan’s scalp, apologized to his employees in a statement for “the way The Joe Rogan Experience controversy continues to impact each of you.”

Censuring The Joe Rogan Experience—a podcast whose eponymous host, a muscle-bound man most famous for providing MMA color commentary and pressuring people into eating bull testicles for money—has become an online cause célèbre in recent months after a group of 270 doctors penned an open letter to its distributor, Spotify, accusing the show of having “a concerning history of broadcasting misinformation, particularly regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Spotify (SPOT.N) Chief Executive Officer Daniel Ek said on Sunday he "strongly" condemns racial slurs and other comments made by popular U.S. podcaster Joe Rogan but will not be removing him from the platform.

Ek's comments, sent in a letter to staff seen by Reuters, come on the heels of Rogan issuing an apology for the second time in a week, the latest for using racial slurs after a montage video surfaced showing him repeatedly using the N-word.