Europeans are sharing coronavirus conspiracy theories and photos of US protests on Telegram, where they plan their own demonstrations. Protesters across Europe have taken to the streets in recent weeks to promote conspiracy theories about the pandemic, and rally against face masks and other health safeguards. “I will not be masked, tested, tracked or poisoned,” read a sign at a protest in Hyde Park last month. On August 1, about 20,000 people attended an anti-mask “Day of Freedom” rally in Berlin, demanding “freedom” and “resistance” and declaring the pandemic a hoax. And on Sunday, hundreds of protesters gathered in Madrid to protest the mandatory use of face masks in every public space in Spain, a requirement the government announced on Friday along with a ban on smoking in outdoor areas when keeping a safe distance is impossible. People at the demonstration were seen holding placards reading “no to the muzzle” and chanting “freedom” to demand that face masks be voluntary and that they have the right to choose whether to get a potential Covid-19 vaccine. Many of the protesters denied that the coronavirus exists and chanted: “There are no new outbreaks.”
via huff: How America’s Alt-Right Is Fuelling Europe’s Anti-Mask Protests