'Plandemic' – Book Full of COVID-19 Falsehoods Will Soon Sell on Amazon

Claims made by doctors in Plandemic 1 and 2 have been debunked by fact-checkers from around the world.

Claims and conspiracy theories propagated by doctors in documentaries titled Plandemic 1 and 2 were debunked by fact-checkers around the world.

(Photo: Kamran Akhter/The Quint)

The book version of Plandemic, a two part video series, which released last year and was subsequently blocked from social media platforms for propagating lies and falsehoods related to COVID-19, will soon be available to people on 31 August, thanks to Amazon.

The book, which is edited and co-authored by Mikki Willis – the filmmaker who created the two videos in 2020 – is described as, "The incredible true story about the most banned documentary in history".

The claims and theories propagated in both the videos were debunked by fact-checkers from across the world, including The Quint's WebQoof team. But now, the book is listed as a "Basic Sciences" book under “Medical Books” section in the American version of Amazon's website.

The book Plandemic listed on Amazon.

(Photo: Screenshot/Amazon)

'100% Censored, 0% Debunked'

Renee DiResta, a disinformation researcher at Stanford Internet Observatory, pointed out that book is listed as top books in the categories of Virology and Immunology.

The book Plandemic listed on Amazon.

(Photo: Screenshot/Amazon)

The description for the book says that it is a “behind-the-scenes account” about the making of Plandemic and its sequel, Plandemic: Indoctrination.

The book "promises" to show an "alarming examination of individuals, such as Dr Anthony Fauci and Bill Gates, and organisations like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institutes of Health (NIH), World Health Organization (WHO), and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, among others, driving the global vaccination agenda.

The Kindle edition of the book is available on Amazon India for Rs 1,035 and will be available from 31 August.

Is Amazon Doing Enough?

This is not the only book propagating COVID-19 misinformation. A keyword search for 'Plandemic' shows several other books in the same name but published by different authors.

Cover of the book Plandemic. 

(Photo: Screenshot/Amazon)

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Amazon has removed some books making dubious claims on the coronavirus pandemic.

Similar action was taken by the company in 2019 when it removed over a dozen books by Andreas Kalcker and Jim Humble who recommended the use of Clorine Dioxide to cure a wide-range of diseases, including AIDS, autism, and cancer.

However, in January, researchers at the University of Washington found that 10 percent of the search results returned by Amazon on vaccines contained misinformation.

Another study published in February by a group of researchers at the Infodemic.eu project found that Amazon's algorithm directed customers to vaccine misinformation.

We reached to Amazon for a comment and the copy will be updated with the same if and when they respond.

What Was the Controversy Around the Video Series?

Last year in May, a 26-minute video called Plandemic was shared on various social media platforms that featured a scientist by the name of Judy Mikovits.

Mikovits was referred to as a "discredited" scientist in an analysis of the video by The New York Times.

The narration in the video talks about a “blockbuster article in the journal Science” published by her which “sent shock waves through the scientific community”. However, the paper was retracted by Science after follow-up studies failed to reproduce the results and it was ruled a result of contaminated lab samples.

The video shot in a documentary format talked about various conspiracy theories, starting from the origins of coronavirus to disinformation on the use of masks and vaccines.

The first video was supposed to be a trailer for a full-length documentary that was released later in August.

The videos were later removed by the social media platforms after users started reporting it but it garned millions of views before it was taken down. The video and claims continue to do the rounds on various anti-vaccination groups.

In the second 75-minute instalment, the creator repeated false claims about coronavirus, vaccines, Dr Anthony Fauci, Bill Gates, media and fact-checkers and even Google as a search engine.

However, the second video failed to be as viral as the first one, as different social media platforms took steps to limit its reach. However, the video still continues to live on social media platforms thanks to alternative video-sharing platforms like Rumble and BitChute.

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