In March 2020, the Center for Inquiry (CFI) launched its online Coronavirus Resource Center (https://centerforinquiry.org/coronavirus/) to inoculate visitors against COVID-19-related misinformation. Resources include links to: 1) articles and columns providing reliable COVID-19 news and fact-checks of popular COVID-19 myths, misconceptions, and conspiracies; 2) original COVID-19 content published by CFI; 3) pages providing practical advice to consumers; and 4) trustworthy COVID-19 information resources. The Coronavirus Resource Center is frequently updated to make current information available. Other updates are provided through CFI’s Morning Heresy online newsletter and through Skeptical Inquirer via social media.
In May, CFI added the “Dubious COVID-19 Treatments and Preventives” page (https://centerforinquiry.org/coronavirus-cure-claims/) to expose products and services that have been falsely advertised as effective against COVID-19. The page has been frequently updated and expanded since its launch and features more than two dozen alphabetically arranged, collapsible/expandable sections starting with “Acupuncture, Moxibustion, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Chinese Herbals” and ending with “‘Zappers’ (Electric Current Devices).” Many of the sections include links to letters from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or the Federal Trade Commission warning sellers to stop their illegal marketing activities. Some sections provide information about other regulatory actions, arrests, indictments, and court decisions.
CFI’s Quackwatch offers a “COVID-19 Schemes, Scams, and Misinformation” page (https://quackwatch.org/consumer-protection/covid-19-consumer-protection/) that describes various types of schemes and scams for consumers to avoid related law enforcement actions and criminal prosecutions. It also provides links to investigative reports on untrustworthy COVID-19 information sources and links to trustworthy information sources. Another Quackwatch page organizes COVID-19-related news briefs from the free weekly e-newsletter Consumer Health Digest (https://quackwatch.org/about/chd/) into collapsible/expandable sections with headings such as “Legal and Regulatory Actions,” “Marketplace Analyses,” “Misinformation,” and “Nostrums.”