| | | Coronavirus Pseudoscientists And Conspiracy Theorists
Name: Shiva Ayyadurai
Who he is: A candidate for the GOP nomination for Senate in Massachusetts, who dubiously claimed to have invented email. He also dated, and reportedly married, actor Fran Drescher. In 2018, during a previous Senate bid, the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, ordered him to remove a sign from his campaign bus that read "Only a REAL INDIAN Can Defeat the Fake Indian," referencing Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Ayyadurai sued, and the city backed down.
What he has said about the coronavirus: Ayyadurai accused Fauci of ties to Big Pharma without evidence, according to Politico, and called for him to be fired. He defined COVID-19 as “an overactive dysfunctional immune system that overreacts and that's what causes damage to the body," which is not accurate, according to medical experts. Ayyadurai has also claimed that vitamin C could be used to treat the disease, which is not true, according to the World Health Organization.
What authorities have said: Ayyadurai claims to have created an email program while in high school in the ‘70s and labeled himself “the inventor of email,” but that claim has been disputed by experts. Technology historian Thomas Haigh wrote that Ayyadurai "did not invent email. [...] The details of Ayyadurai’s program were never published, it was never commercialized, and it had no apparent influence on any further work in the field." In 2017, a judge dismissed a libel suit Ayyadurai brought over a Techdirt story that stated he did not invent email. Ayyadurai appealed that dismissal, and in 2019 Techdirt agreed to settle the case that meant that the news organization had to link to Ayyadurai’s claim of him inventing email on its stories about him.
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AI Overview
V. A. Shiva Ayyadurai has promoted misinformation about COVID-19, including questioning the existence and severity of the virus, advancing conspiracy theories, and advocating unproven treatments
. His claims have been widely refuted by the scientific and medical communities.
His claims regarding COVID-19 misinformation include:
- Questioning the virus: Ayyadurai suggested that social distancing was "destructive" and unnecessary, ignoring established public health guidance.
- Advocating unproven treatments: He promoted the unsubstantiated idea that a regimen of vitamins, particularly high doses of vitamin C, could treat or prevent the coronavirus. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took action against companies making similar claims.
- Spreading conspiracy theories: Ayyadurai accused Dr. Anthony Fauci, a key member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, of being a "deep-state plant" who promoted mandatory vaccinations to benefit pharmaceutical companies. He also alleged the virus was spread by the "deep state". These theories have been rejected by public health officials.
Reputable news outlets and fact-checkers, such as The New York Times, Politico, and CNBC, have covered Ayyadurai's history of promoting false information, including his disputed claim to have invented email. He has been identified as a significant promoter of anti-vaccine sentiments and other conspiracy theories, leveraging social media to spread his claims. Due to these actions, Twitter suspended his account in 2021.
The consensus among global health authorities and infectious disease experts is that COVID-19 is a real and dangerous disease, and that vaccines are safe and effective tools for preventing severe illness. |
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