Electronic Billboard Near Pittsburgh Gaining Attention For Messaging About Masks, COVID-19
By: KDKA-TV News Staff
SOUTH PARK TOWNSHIP (KDKA) -- A billboard in South Park Township, outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is garnering a lot of attention.
A slide on an electronic billboard at one intersection says that masks don't work and urges people to stop getting tested for COVID-19.
Another slide addresses the local school district and its mandatory mask-wearing policy.
Doctors say misinformation during the pandemic has been dangerous.
"I think that as people are getting their information about masks, I would look to reputable public health sources and not what we're seeing on Facebook and being talked about at some of these school board meetings," said Dr. Nathan Shively, an Infectious Disease Specialist with Allegheny Health Network.
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in June found much of the misinformation spread on social media has been amplified by bots that have been overlooked by fact-checkers.