This piece details an event in Cincinnati. An online bulletin was spread on Facebook. It appeared as a legitimate city health notification. Except it wasn't, it was completely false.
The post claimed a local woman was HIV+ & had knowingly spread the virus to over a dozen men. The post completely doxed her. Everything about the memo was accurate, except she wasn't HIV+ & it wasn't from the city.
The woman & her family have contacted the officials. The health department wouldn't have posted this online. Yet, even if it's taken down, it will always be out there. The person who sent this could be charged with filing a false report. The woman could sue them. But, the damage is done.
Because of a love to spread damaging gossip. Because of the stigma associated with HIV. There are people who will always believe she did this thing. There's nothing anyone can do about it. Addressing too much, could actually convince the haters more she actually did it.
The sender of this false information may be legally handled, but it will never be enough. The sender won. They got what they wanted. They wanted to hurt this woman & get some attention. Who knows why they did it, it doesn't matter. In the end, someone used the virus for defamation. That's the stigma of HIV & it was weaponized.
Cya...
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