Plandemic is a trilogy ofconspiracy theory films produced by Mikki Willis, promotingmisinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic. They featureJudy Mikovits, a discredited American researcher and prominentanti-vaccine activist. The first video,Plandemic: The Hidden Agenda Behind Covid-19, was released on May 4, 2020, under Willis'sproduction company Elevate Films. The second film,Plandemic Indoctornation, which includes more interviewees, was released on August 18 byBrian Rose's distributor of conspiracy theory related films, London Real. Later on June 3, 2023,Plandemic 3: The Great Awakening was released onThe Highwire, a website devoted to conspiracy theories run by anti-vaccine activistDel Bigtree.
Upon its release, the first video wentviral, becoming one of the most widespread pieces of COVID-19 misinformation, its popularity most attributed to online word-of-mouth. It was quickly removed by multiple online platforms, but this failed to stop its proliferation. The video also plausibly contributed to non-compliance with health protocols. Due to social media companies' preparedness for its release,Plandemic: Indoctornation received less attention.
Scientists and health professionals have criticized all the installments of the trilogy for their misleading claims, while Willis's filmmaking style employing variousmodes of persuasion has been cited as lending to a conspiratorial andbrainwashing character of the film. Responding to the outcry directed at the first video, Willis expressed doubt about Mikovits's claims but continued to defend her, withIndoctornation being self-described as a "response video" todebunkers.The Great Awakening was also subject to debunking by fact-checkers.
TheCOVID-19 pandemic was caused by the virussevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), first identified in December 2019 inWuhan, China, becoming a pandemic in 2020.[1]Billions of people have contracted the disease and millions eventuallydied from it.[2] As a result of the pandemic declaration,travel restrictions,[3]social distancing measures,[4] andmany other precautions were enacted to try toprevent the spread of COVID-19[5] whilevaccines were quickly developed and underwent phased distribution in most countries.[6] Meanwhile,misinformation and conspiracy theories about the pandemic emerged, concerning the pandemic's scale, the virus' origin, diagnosis, andtreatment. Among the popular conspiracy theory is that the virus is abioweapon tocontrol the population.[7] Some people have claimed to havemagical or faith-based cures for the disease.[8]
Judy Anne Mikovits is a former American research scientist who is known for her discredited medical claims, such as the claimmurineendogenous retroviruses are linked tochronic fatigue syndrome.[9] Even prior to the pandemic, Mikovits was engaged inanti-vaccination activism and the promotion ofconspiracy theories,[10] and was accused ofscientific misconduct.[11] Prior to the release ofPlandemic, Mikovits had expressed support for various COVID-19 conspiracy theories, claiming, for example, that the COVID-19 pandemic is a predictableflu season.[12]
Mikki Willis[a] is a former model and actor[14] who had been making severalNew Age documentary films and conspiracy videos.[15]: 4 At age 25, he founded the New York/Los Angeles Theater of the Arts, where he made severalexperimental plays, before making his feature debut film,Shoe Shine Boys (1996). He owns aproduction company, Elevate Films, which operates under the501(c)(3) non-profit Elevate Foundation, founded in 2006. At one point, it also operated a namesake film festival.[13][16][17] He was also co-director, co-cinematographer, and co-editor of the documentaryNeurons to Nirvana (2013), which makes therapeutic claims onpsychedelics. Residing inOjai, California, Willis has a wife and business partner, Nadia Salamanca, as well as two sons. He has a family YouTube channel, Elevate Family, where one of his videos encouraging young boys to be unashamed of their cross-gender interests went viral. In 2023, it was reported they were planning to launch analternative learning center.[15]: 3 [18][19]
The first installment of the trilogy, a 26-minute video titledPlandemic: The Hidden Agenda Behind Covid-19,[19] promotesthe conspiracist claim that vaccines are "a money-making enterprise that causes medical harm",[20] exploring themes of the loss offree speech andfree choice, also promoting parental autonomy against the pharmaceutical industry.[15]: 14 It takes the form of an interview between Willis and Mikovits, who makes unsupported and false statements about SARS-CoV2, the disease it causes, and her own controversial history.[19]
Fact-checking websitePolitiFact highlighted eight false or misleading statements made in the video:[19]
_bIMG_0868_(49876163551).jpg)
The journalScience also repeats some of the statements made by PolitiFact and fact-checked some of Mikovits's and Willis's other statements:[36]
Mikovits also alludes to several conspiracy theories that stateBill Gates is implicated in causing the pandemic to profit from an eventual vaccine,[20] and makes false and unsupported statements such as the claim that beaches should remain open because of "healing microbes in the saltwater" and "sequences" in the sand that can "protect against the coronavirus".[37] The video states the numbers of COVID-19 deaths are purposely being misreported to control people.[38] External videos, such as one in which achiropractor saystonic water can treat or prevent COVID-19 and one of a press conference among doctors Dan Erickson and Artin Massihi inBakersfield, California, says the COVID-19 pandemic is over-hyped. These external videos were also disputed beforehand.[39]
According to Willis, producingPlandemic was a struggle. At that time, he was aware getting involved in controversial topics would risk his reputation and would likely embroil him in heated discussions. "And of course there's been tons of it. I've just been navigating all of that", he told theLos Angeles Times. Willis's concern arose from his perception of the pharmaceutical industry's corruption, a concern that began with the deaths of his mother fromcancer and of his brother fromAIDS during his 20s.[13]
Willis met Mikovits for the first time in 2019, via mutual friends. Willis told theOjai Valley News: "Because of [Mikovits's] direct connection with [those] involved with the pandemic ... I reached out to her for advice. We met, had a meeting, and what she revealed to me I knew the world needed to know."Principal photography took a day and editing took two weeks. Willis said he stopped editing a "socially conscious" documentary film he produced in 2019, arguingPlandemic was urgent. He was unsure whether to make a continuation.[40][18] After hiring a cinematographer and researcher to join the project, Willis calculated it had a budget at less than US$2,000.[13]
Willis, a low-budget filmmaker who was 52 years old at the time ofPlandemic's release, teamed up with Salamanca to market the video;[13] among their efforts were creating anInstagram account.[41] They intentionally chose conspiratorial branding to gain attention. Theproject's title, a portmenteau ofplan andpandemic, was the most popular choice in a Facebook poll conducted by Willis; runners-up wereThe Invisible Enemy andThe Oath.[13]
Plandemic: The Hidden Agenda Behind Covid-19 was released on May 4, 2020.[42] It was promoted byAmerican far-right conspiracy theoristAlex Jones onInfoWars,[43] and spreadvirally on social media, garnering millions of views,[20] making it one of the most widespread pieces of COVID-19 misinformation. "Judy Mikovits" became a trending search on Google for two days.[44] Two weeks prior to release, 30,368tweets used the term "plandemic", most of which were merely retweets. After the video's release, the word "plandemic" was used 155% more on Twitter.[45] According toCrowdTangle,QAnon Facebook groups endorsed the video. A Facebook spokesman recalled its hired fact-checkers wasting a huge amount of time to verify the video's claims, partly due to its duration and the number of claims.[46] Before being removed, one of the videos featuring the work attracted one million views.[47] Despite its removal, viewings of the video on the original site continued.[48]
A YouTube spokesperson said the platform would remove videos supporting the claims ofPlandemic without sufficient evidence, saying "[s]uggesting that wearing a mask can make you sick could lead to imminent harm".Vimeo's Trust & Safety team removed the video for violating its policies on misinformation; Twitter said hashtags like #PlagueofCorruption[b] and #PlandemicMovie had beenblacklisted and that not all of Mikovits's attempts to spread propaganda on the platform violated its policies. By the time the video was removed from Facebook, it had been watched 1.8 million times, had attracted 17,000 comments, and had been shared nearly 150,000 times.[49] OnTikTok, the video continued to find popularity via excerpted clips, some of which were removed from the platform.[50]Google Drive and theInternet Archive were also used to spread the video; the former removed the files after being notified byThe Washington Post.[41]
According to Zarine Kharazian, assistant editor of theAtlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab, as the film was removed from mainstream social media platforms, a "censorship backfire" that was characterized as a form ofStreisand effect occurred; links to copies were promoted onalt-tech platforms—some of which were designed to host controversial content—were shared, with people's interest attracted by the video's perceived taboo nature.[51] On Facebook, posts flagged as misinformation are more likely to be spread than those ignored. Shahin Nazar and Toine Pieters of the journalFrontiers in Public Health called the marketing campaign of encouraging people via decentralized social media to propagate the anti-vaccine belief "sophisticated", noting that it might have been a major contributor to the lack of compliance towards health protocols.[45] According toThe Verge,end-to-end encrypted services likeWhatsApp and private groups meant the video was still being spread, unbeknown to the public.[46]
Scientists, medical doctors, and public health experts condemnedPlandemic: The Hidden Agenda Behind Covid-19 for promoting misinformation andNBC News called it "a hodgepodge of conspiracy theories".[44] Governmental organizations, including the Indonesian COVID-19 Task Force, also labeled the video as a hoax, describing it asbrainwashing and ared herring to divert the public's attention from real issues.[52] Experts like specialist disinformation reporterMarianna Spring and disinformation researcher Erin Gallagher said the video's professionally crafted atmosphere, cinematography, and ominously dramaticscore made the stated claims sound true; according to Spring; "That makes them as dangerous—if not more so—than advice with a mix of truth and misleading medical myths".[53][54][55]
Science journalistTara Haelle described the video as pseudoscientific propaganda and said it succeeded at promoting misinformation because it plays on the viewers' confusion and desperation for answers. The opening sequence best targets people unfamiliar with Mikovits, painting her as the scientific industry'sunderdog,giving a good first impression on her. and editing, The video also uses variousmodes of persuasion such as theGish gallop (giving excessive arguments to sound convincing), as well as scientific-looking images and "harrowing" stock footage of dying people during the AIDS scene.[55] Writing for theDeseret News, Amy Iverson expressed sympathy for those who stumbled upon the video in search for "someone to blame" for the effects of the pandemic, however noted "we cannot turn to outrageous, unchecked claims from a few loud voices to ease our concerns. And we definitely should not spread their unsubstantiated claims."[39]
Meanwhile, the British musicianSeal expressed love for the video and called the responses to it unjustified. Other public figures including themixed martial arts fighterNick Catone, spread the video's misinformation and Melissa Ackison, aRepublican politician, supported the video.[56] The video's legacy continues long after its release; in February 2021,The Washington Post reported an anti-mask Facebook page called "Shop Mask Free Los Angeles" usedPlandemic: The Hidden Agenda Behind Covid-19 to support its claims. By this time, thePost reported some of the links had suffered fromlink rot.[57]
TheLos Angeles Times contacted yoga teacher and authorShiva Rea, who was a member of the board of directors of the Elevate Foundation; Rea stated she was not associated with the foundation or the film, and foundPlandemic: The Hidden Agenda Behind Covid-19 to be "very disturbing".[13]
Willis said that although he expected the provocative marketing to garner interest, the actual scope of popularity was unexpected.[18] Speaking to theLos Angeles Times, Willis said he is not anti-vaccine and that he was merely trying to "start a conversation about science". He described himself as open-minded; "I have a profound love and respect of doctors despite how many doctors are mad at me now". Willis said he is also skeptical of Mikovits's claims in the video; "We're working very hard right now to validate the majority of the claims that were made" and expressed a willingness to be involved in civil discussions with doctors "on all sides".[13]
ProPublica health care reporter and investigative journalistMarshall Allen contacted Willis, who saidPlandemic "is not a piece that's intended to be perfectly balanced". When asked whetherPlandemic might be fairly called propaganda, he said the definition fits, although he did not feel it contains anything misleading. According to Allan, "based on [the definition of propaganda], [Willis] feels 100% of news reporting is propaganda".[21]
TheCenter for Inquiry's (CFI)Benjamin Radford and researcherPaul Offit asked Willis eight questions about the accuracy of the claims made in the video, either asking for evidence and clarification or asking questions such as "considering that bacteria don't kill viruses, how would 'healing microbes' reduce or treat coronavirus infection?" Willis agreed to answer all of the questions but he never did. Radford said on the CFI's website:[58]
If the claims made by Mikovits and Willis inPlandemic are based in truth and facts, you'd think they would be eager to offer evidence supporting their claims. What better way to turn the tables on scientists, skeptics, and journalists than to offer a referenced, fact-based, point-by-point rebuttal to critics who offer them a platform? ... Where are their responses? Why are they suddenly so quiet? Why are they afraid to answer questions? What do they have to hide?
The second installment, an 84-minute film titledPlandemic: Indoctornation[c] was released on August 18, 2020.[59] Willis said the film is a "response video to all the debunkers", and that he worked with a coalition of 7,000 doctors and attorneys to make the film to "reform our medical systems such that they're not under the stranglehold of Big Pharma".[40] PolitiFact categorized it as apseudo-documentary.[60]
The film says there is a worldwide conspiracy seeking to control humanity through fear and to make money for the putative conspirators; the COVID-19 pandemic is described as a key moment in a decades-long plan. The film says people and institutions including theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),Google and the fact-checking agencies it employs, climate scientists,John Oliver, and Bill Gates coordinate with each other to enact the conspiracy.[61]
Plandemic: Indoctornation saysCOVID-19 was engineered in a laboratory, thatEvent 201—a 2019disaster response exercise—was a plan to release a real virus into the population, and that theBill & Melinda Gates Foundation was ejected from India.[59] The film also says adefensive patent applied by the CDC during the2003 SARS outbreak was meant to "[control] the proprietary rights to the disease, to the virus, and to its detection and all of the measurement of it".[60] These were later unproven; Event 201 was not a virus conspiracy plot, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation does not have technology allowing it to covertly implant an invisible proof of vaccination.[59] The CDC's defensive patent covers the genetic material detection methods for human coronaviruses so "public research and communication were not jeopardized by commercial parties seeking exclusive private control".[60]
Immediately after the release ofPlandemic: The Hidden Agenda Behind Covid-19, Willis said he was contacted by an independent producer who said he had worked on projects withHBO,Netflix, andAmazon. The producer asked Willis if he had an interest in collaborating on making a feature-length version, though theLos Angeles Times found the companies had expressed no interest in the film.[13] Soon afterPlandemic's release, another set of teams announced the clips fromPlandemic: The Hidden Agenda Behind Covid-19 would be part of a documentary feature film.[19]
Plandemic: Indoctornation was released by an onlinedistributor calledLondon Real on the website Digital Freedom Platform, which has promoted several discredited theories about the COVID-19 pandemic,[59] and was founded and managed by podcasterBrian Rose.[60] Because the film's release was promoted in advance, social media platforms were able to prepare for its release rather than scrambling to react to misinformation already circulating on their networks.[59] As part of their policy to counter disinformation about the pandemic, Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms took steps to limit the spread of the film as soon as it was posted, affixing warnings to links shared by users. YouTube removed multiple copies of the film and sixteen clips presenting specific sections from its servers.[61] Although no steps to block the content were taken, Facebook warned users when clicking the film's URL, which was blacklisted by TikTok and Instagram.[62]
According to London Real,Plandemic: Indoctornation was watched 1.2 million times by the end of its first day of release but the Digital Forensic Research Lab called the film "a totalflop" that achieved much less social media engagement than the original video.[61] Because social media companies were forewarned by the viral nature of the first video, the distribution ofPlandemic: Indoctornation was limited.[59]TheDaily Dot said the only platform where it succeeded in getting exposure was Facebook, where it had 4,000 views of posts linking to the film onBitChute, where it had 40,000 views.[62]
Critics comparedPlandemic: Indoctornation unfavorably with the first video.[62] Jane Lytvynenko atBuzzFeed News gave it zero stars, saying while the first video presents a protagonist (Mikovits) and a fairly clear narrative, the film does neither: it is "bloated, confused, and filled with nonsense", switching between topics without clearly establishing how all the information presented relate to each other. Its subjects are said to be cliché with respect to the first video. Lytvynenko said Willis's initial claim 'the first video is a trailer for a feature film is incorrect; whilePlandemic: Indoctornation discusses the same themes and includes Mikovits, most of the material in the first video is not used in the feature-length film.[61]
Willis teamed up withDel Bigtree, the founder of the anti-vaccination groupInformed Consent Action Network, to release another film,Plandemic 3: The Great Awakening on Bigtree's websiteThe Highwire.[14] In February 2023, arough cut was screened at the "Rabbit Room" section of the 21st Conscious Life Expo in Los Angeles, a New Age and far-right conspiracy event[63] where he won a humanitarian award in 2008.[17] The trailer was released on May 23, 2023, and the film itself on June 3. Its promotional tagline, placed at a "slick" official website, is "100% Censored, 0% Debunked." The fact-checking organizationLogically reported that the trailer had earned two million views on Twitter as of May 31.[14] The 101-minute film is said to be dedicated to conspiracy theoristG. Edward Griffin, with archival clips of him used sporadically.[64]
The film begins with Willis claiming that his AIDS-infected brother died of consuming the treatment drugzidovudine. PolitiFact andAgence France-Presse found no evidence that it caused the deaths of AIDS patients. The clip circulated in Instagram, but was then flagged by parent companyMeta.[65][66] Willis then says that COVID-19 lockdowns are "synchronized tyranny" aimed at controlling the masses. The trailer includes out-of-context clips of world leaders and politicians discussing theGreat Reset at theWorld Economic Forum (WEF), and features personalities who have promoted misinformation about the pandemic and vaccines, includingGhent University professor Mattias Desmet andVladimir Zelenko.[d][14] The film also misleadingly depicts WEF founderKlaus Schwab as creating a "purported plot for a unified world government" as well as being aNazi due to him being born inNazi Germany. It also falsely covers theGeorge Floyd protests (additionally callingBlack Lives Matter a pro-communist organization),antifa protests, and aWashington state bill regardinggender-affirming surgery.[64]
In the same video, Mikovits rejected the notion of wearing a mask, since, she claimed, the coronavirus is actually secretly caused by a bad strain of flu shot that was circulating between 2013 and 2015.
.svg)
