Acting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Chad Wolf took to Twitter Friday evening to counter rumors of a nation wide lockdown over coronavirus.
Wolf alluded specifically to texts purporting to quote DHS officials and those with inside knowledge warning the department is planning a national lock down.
Hearing a lot about texts from “friends at DHS” or “friends with connections at DHS” that say DHS is planning a national lock down.
THIS IS NOT TRUE.
Do not believe the disinformation campaigns. Please do not pass it along. Use trusted local and federal government sources.
— Acting Secretary Chad Wolf (@DHS_Wolf) March 20, 2020
Wolf called on Twitter followers to ignore the circulating text rumors, and instead trust direct communications from local and federal government sources.
Wolf’s comments come amid heightened U.S. government concern of disinformation being spread about hostile actors. Last weekend, reports emerged that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) suffered a cyber attack intended to slow its computer systems and spread disinformation. According to a Bloomberg report, the White House National Security Council (NSC) took to Twitter to specifically address some of the misinformation that originated from the cyber attack.
Text message rumors of a national #quarantine are FAKE. There is no national lockdown. @CDCgov has and will continue to post the latest guidance on #COVID19. #coronavirus
— NSC (@WHNSC) March 16, 2020
The earlier set of rumors appeared to reference an unknown sender warning that the person’s “military friends” had heard in a briefing that the “president will order a two week mandatory quarantine for the nation.”
Sources for Bloomberg assessed the earlier cyber attack and rumors likely originated from a foreign state, though they had not confirmed the claim to be true.
On Friday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo assessed China, Russia and Iran have all been part of efforts to spread disinformation about the virus.
“I want to talk about the disinformation that people are seeing on Twitter, around the world, some of it coming from governments, some of it coming from other individuals,” Pompeo said. “I just urge everyone as they are seeing the information — information that at one time suggested somehow this virus emanated from the United States Army — this information about lockdowns that are taking place. Every American, indeed people all around the world, should ensure that where they turn to for information is a reliable source and not a bad actor trying to create a flow of information that they know is wrong.”
