End COVID Hoax

About

End COVID Hoax refers to a series of tweets showcasing fake coronavirus protests using images of crowds gathered in the street and the hashtag #endCOVID. The tweets became popular in March 2020 during the coronavirus outbreak fooling some commentators into believing that, despite social distancing protocols, people were gathering in crowds to rally against coronavirus.

Origin

On March 26th, 2020, Twitter user @Reflog_18^[1] shared an image of a parade for the Cleveland Cavaliers with the caption, "Nice weather has brought people out at the March to End COVID-19 in Cleveland today. #EndCOVID" (shown below). The tweet gained over 28,800 likes and 6,600 retweets in four days.

Spread

On March 28th, Twitter user @brokoligang^[2] retweeted @Reflog_18 and said, "Every city needs to take this as an example instead of sitting at home doing dumb Instagram challenges. Until tomorrow what? Together we can end covid-19 TODAY! Thank you Cleveland for actually stepping up and doing something Clapping hands signClapping hands sign it warms my heart to see people care #EndCOVID" (shown below, left). The tweet received over 245 likes in two days. That same day, Twitter user @SomeonesAnIdiot^[3] shared some screenshots of replied to @reflog_18's initial post with the caption, "Reflog_18 tweeted a picture of the Cavs championship parade from 2016 calling it an “#EndCOVID March”, and numerous people fell for it and called other people stupid #irony" (shown below, right).

On March 29th, Twitter users continued to upload similar posts claiming that there are endCOVID protests. Twitter user @1LilDuff shared a video of a crowd outside with the caption, "Vibes From Today's Freedom Plaza March to End COVID-19 in DC today. #EndCOVID" (shown below). The Daily Dot^[4] published an article on the hoax.

Various Examples

Search Interest

Not Available

External References