Coronavirus becomes a weapon of disinformation in Middle East battle for influence
BEIRUT - The coronavirus had struck the emir of Qatar, said one bogus headline. His wife was infected too, claimed another. Authorities in Qatar, one online video indicated, were to blame for allowing "Turks and Iranians to bring corona to its lands."
Such stories have appeared in wide-scale and well-funded disinformation campaigns in the Middle East, officials, data experts and analysts say, and have remained aggressive during the COVID-19 outbreak. Several have even intensified, leveraging the pandemic to settle scores in the Middle East's rivalries.
"It's as if the virus is a mark of shame on countries struggling with the disease. Or there's an
