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    HIV

    FACT CHECK: Correcting the Record on HIV/AIDS Misinformation Online

    GLAADBy 10 Mins Read
    Aids Day Is Marked Around The World
    Photo by China Photos/Getty Images

    Recognized as a global epidemic since the early 1980s, HIV/AIDS continues to be one of the world’s deadliest viruses. While there is no vaccine or cure, HIV is preventable and can be managed with medication that slows the course of the virus.

    As GLAAD and many other experts have noted, two important factors that fuel the epidemic are stigma and mis- and disinformation. According to GLAAD’s 2024 State of HIV Stigma Report, we’ve seen a significant decrease in the belief that people living with HIV can live long, healthy lives, from 90% in 2020 to 85% in 2024. Gen Z — who name social media as a top source for information — are among the least knowledgeable generations about HIV.

    Dehumanizing narratives and fearmongering lies that demonize HIV-positive individuals makes everyone less safe. Due to both shame and lack of accurate information, people are less likely to have conversations with their sexual partners, get tested, and find treatment and support.

    This World AIDS Day, GLAAD has compiled some of the most common falsehoods about HIV/AIDs that we saw online this year.

    False Claim: AIDS is caused by “party drugs.”
    Fact: Progression of the HIV virus causes AIDS. “Party drugs” do not lead to HIV nor AIDS.

    As the World Health Organization (WHO) states, HIV attacks the body’s immune system, and AIDS occurs as the infection advances. HIV can be spread through several means, including unprotected sex, sharing needles, or from an HIV-positive mother giving birth.

    By blaming “party drugs” like poppers, podcasters Joe Rogan and Bret Weinstein are employing an age-old, harmful trope that LGBTQ people “attract” or “deserve” HIV/AIDS, due to their “gay lifestyles.” While substance abuse can worsen a person’s health or increase the likelihood of risky behaviors, it does not lead to HIV/AIDS.

    False Claim: AZT, the earliest AIDS treatment drug, killed more people than the virus itself.
    Fact: AZT did not kill people with AIDS. It has saved many lives.

    In 1987, azidothymidine (known as AZT) became the first, USDA-approved drug for the treatment of AIDS. AZT did prolong the lives of many early AIDS patients. However, according to longer-term research, when used as a standalone treatment, its effectiveness wanes as the virus becomes resistant to the drug. Leading public health agencies tell the AP that, when used in combination with other medications, AZT is more effective at taming HIV.

    For years, AIDS denialists have theorized that AZT killed early AIDS patients, a claim that has been repeatedly debunked. In 2024, Elon Musk, Aaron Rodgers, Liz Churchill, Joe Rogan, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. repeated the claim, aiming to discredit Dr. Anthony Fauci, a longtime researcher of HIV/AIDS, and more recently of COVID-19.

    “It is disappointing to see platforms being used to spout old, baseless theories about HIV,” a spokesperson for amfAR, a nonprofit dedicated to AIDS research, told Vice News. “Access to antiretroviral therapy and accurate information has saved many millions of lives.”

    Read more via AP’s Fact Check here.

    False Claim: Haitian immigrants are rapidly spreading HIV in Springfield, Ohio.
    Fact: There is no evidence that Haitian immigrants are causing HIV in Springfield, Ohio.

    In September 2024, JD Vance falsely claimed that Haitian immigrants are causing HIV, tuberculosis, and other “communicable diseases” to skyrocket in Springfield, Ohio. That was after he doubled down on Donald Trump’s false claim, during the second presidential debate, that Haitian immigrants are abducting and eating pets in the Ohio town.

    According to the latest data, new HIV diagnoses in Clark County, Ohio have risen only slightly, and there is no evidence that Haitian immigrants have led to any new cases.

    As Them notes: “Haitians have also long been the target of racist fearmongering surrounding the AIDS crisis.” In 2017, Trump similarly claimed that Haitian legal immigrants “all have AIDS.”

    False Claim: Nicotine deters HIV.
    Fact: Nicotine is addictive, is linked to a variety of health issues, and does not deter HIV.

    Smoking nicotine (the substance in cigarettes) has been shown to damage people’s heart and blood circulation, increasing their risk of a myriad of health issues including cardiovascular disease, heart attack, stroke, and high blood pressure, according to the National Institute of Health. Nicotine is also linked to many types of cancer.

    There is no evidence that nicotine deters HIV/AIDS. In fact, research suggests that smoking can shorten the life expectancy of an HIV-positive person, and double the risk of death for people taking HIV treatment.

    False Claim: HIV was added to COVID vaccines.
    Fact: HIV was not added to COVID vaccines.

    There is no evidence that HIV was added to the COVID-19 vaccines, nor that the vaccines make people more susceptible to contracting HIV. While HIV can be spread via contaminated needles, COVID vaccines are administered using single-use syringes.

    Online conspiracy theories have surged during the COVID pandemic, renewing skepticism toward public health institutions — and revitalizing falsehoods surrounding HIV/AIDS.

    As Anna Merlan writes for MIT Tech Review: “Widespread distrust of our public health system is reviving long-debunked ideas on HIV and AIDS — and energizing a broad movement that questions the foundations of disease prevention … One reason AIDS and covid denialists have been able to build similar and interlocking movements that inveigh against government science is that the early days of the two viruses were markedly similar: full of confusion, mystery, and skepticism.”

    False Claim: Bill Gates inserted HIV into the Mpox vaccine.
    Fact: HIV was not added to the Mpox vaccine.

    Similar to other COVID-related conspiracies above, this claim is false. In August 2024, a “whistleblower” — without evidence — falsely claimed that Bill Gates and Dr. Anthony Fauci are developing a COVID-Mpox-HIV “supervirus” to “kill billions” of people.

    This claim found its roots in “New World Order” conspiracy theories, COVID denialism, and anti-LGBTQ bias (where LGBTQ people are posited as “boogeymen” in this scary scenario of a doctored “supervirus”). Although LGBTQ people are at higher risk of contracting Mpox and HIV, as GLAAD and other experts have noted, the impacts of viruses are systemic, related to racism and discrimination in healthcare access as well as stigma surrounding the diseases and being LGBTQ.

    False Claim: The US government is spending millions conducting HIV research on “transgender monkeys.”
    Fact: In 2022, the National Institute of Health (NIH) contracted a $477,121 study that looked at how hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may affect HIV treatment for trans women, where monkeys served as test subjects.

    In November 2024, YouTuber Dillon Loomis claimed that the US government spent $33.2 million on “transgender monkey research.” Popular right-wing accounts then parroted similar claims. But these statements distort both the amount spent, and the purpose of the research it’s pointing to.

    As Al Jazeera reports, the $33.2 million figure went toward overall research studying monkeys — with the aim of solving health problems in humans.

    In actuality, from 2021-2022, the NIH granted $477,121 for (three projects under) a single study researching how HRT may affect HIV treatment in transgender women, who are a high-incidence population. Trans women also account for disproportionate numbers of new HIV diagnoses in the US and globally. The goal of the study is to help scientists better understand how HRT and HIV interact in the body, in order to slow the spread of the virus.

    False Claims: Pete Buttigieg and Alicia Keys are HIV-positive.
    Fact: Alicia Keys and Pete Buttigieg do not have HIV.

    In February 2024, false claims that singer Alicia Keys was born HIV-positive spread across TikTok. And in October 2024, a viral X/Twitter post falsely stated that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg had come out as HIV-positive, and other large right-wing accounts re-shared the claim. Neither claim is true, and the latter originated from a parody account, according to Politifact.

    The falsehoods feed into existing racist and anti-LGBTQ stereotypes associated with HIV/AIDS.

    False Claims: Bleach, as well as other herbal remedies, can cure HIV/AIDS.
    Fact: There is currently no cure for HIV/AIDS.

    Throughout the years, several social accounts have falsely claimed that they found “cures” for HIV/AIDS, ranging from bleach to herbal remedies.

    One such X/Twitter post, for example, recommends chlorine dioxide (a bleach) as a cure for AIDS. As Reuters reports, bleach is primarily used as a surface disinfectant and is dangerous when ingested. It can cause burns to the mouth and esophagus, and can also damage cells, tissues, and cause life-threatening conditions.

    A number of X/Twitter and Facebook posts have also falsely claimed that herbal remedies or fruits can cure HIV, in addition to other diseases like cancer and diabetes. Some even advertise specific products.

    There is currently no cure for HIV/AIDS, but scientists are trying to find one. Treating HIV can suppress the virus to the point where it’s no longer detectable nor sexually transmissible. As NPR noted in 2014, unproven AIDS “cures” have long plagued the HIV/AIDS epidemic and “have kept people from seeking life-saving treatments.”

    As is true of other hate-driven disinformation, social media companies must do better at mitigating the spread of such conspiracy theories and falsehoods about HIV/AIDS. To learn the facts about HIV/AIDS, explore GLAAD’s 2024 State of HIV Stigma report.

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