The Guardian's Article on Armenian Website Spreading Misinformation Funded by US Grant

The British publication The Guardian has released an article about one of the Armenian websites titled "A US-funded website spreads misinformation about COVID-19," according to shantnews.am.

According to the article, the Armenian website Medmedia.am began its activities with assistance from a grant from the US State Department, which aimed to promote democracy; however, instead, the website has spread false information regarding the coronavirus. This conclusion was made after an investigation by the British outlet openDemocracy.

The Guardian notes that some of Medmedia's most prominent articles refer to COVID-19 as a "fake pandemic" and circulate misinformation suggesting that one of the morgues offered the family of a deceased patient several hundred dollars if they agreed to state that the death was caused by the coronavirus.

The US State Department provided the grant to a group called the Armenian Association of Young Doctors, which created the site last year and is led by Dr. Gevorg Grigoryan. The publication also mentions that Grigoryan has heavily criticized the Ministry of Health and its vaccination program, as well as being opposed to members of the LGBTQ community.

The Guardian reached out to Gevorg Grigoryan, who stated that he has no ties to any political party and that the purpose of his website has been to make public voices heard, highlighting the opinions of specialists and doctors. Grigoryan also mentioned that he was contacted by the US Embassy, expressing concern over the articles published on the site.

The publication notes that the investigation conducted by openDemocracy revealed that while Medmedia published some news articles, the analytical pieces featured on the site primarily consisted of "reposts of misinformation-laden Facebook posts."