Mapping the Spread of Claims about SM-102, a Compound That Is Not a "Deadly Poison."
Claims that sm-102 is not for human or animal consumption started spreading significantly by May 17, 2021. Someone misread the label.
Note: This post is a working paper meaning we continue to add to it. It has been made public given the nature of viral misinformation.
Searches for the term “SM-102” are surging on social media platforms and web searches. The compound features prominently in some recent vaccine misinformation. Someone misunderstood what the label meant. There may be inauthentic activity amplifying it on at least one platform.
Outline
What is “sm-102” and why do people think it’s deadly?
Interest Surging
Narratives & Key Claims
Popular Links and Subreddits
What is “sm-102” and why do people think it’s deadly?
The term “sm-102” has surged in web searches over the past week. Data show a sharp uptick in interest surrounding claims about the ingredient’s presence in vaccines.
SM-102 is a chemical compound, specifically an ionizable amino lipid. Official sources make up a significant amount of the links shared on the topic, showing that good information on its own is not sufficient to solve the misinformation problem.
The issue is often one of interpretation. In the case of “sm-102” that appears to be the case.
Discussion of “sm-102” included chloroform. This is most likely because sm-102 is “a solution in chloroform.” As with all things—the dose makes the poison, so although the term probably sounds worrisome, it is only worrisome if the dose is large enough to cause harm.
Social media posts center around a link to a supplier of the compound. The listing has the notice “not for human or animal use.” This is misunderstood to mean that the compound itself is not for use in humans or animals, which is not the case.
Many industries have grades for products like cosmetic grade, food grade, etc. In the US the FDA regulates this market, requiring standards to be met. The company, Cayman Chemical Company, appears to have noticed the uptick in interest and posted a notice which clarifies precisely this point.
Lead Stories appears to have covered this issue, as well.
Interest Surging
The WIN communities—a popular network for conservatives but especially for former President Donald Trump, Reddit, and Telegram show heavy discussions, with links to the FDA being the most common.
Conversation about “sm-102” also exists on other platforms, like Twitter and Instagram where the term appeared around a week ago. The impact on Twitter hasn’t followed a steep incline.
Comparing the tweet count to the reach, it’s somewhat counterintuitive.
One of the most popular articles aside from the FDA website and other similarly official sites is one from the Hal Turner Radio Show.
This follows the popular path to misinformation where something true is taken and misinterpreted or misapplied. This creates compelling misinformation. The part of the story that can be verified lends credibility to the claim, although it shouldn’t in many cases.
Only one link related to “sm-102” showed up on Gab at the time of search: vaxxter.com.
Hoaxlines Record from April 2021 related to Vaxxter: Dr. Sherri Tenpenny: "Depopulation via COVID Vaccines Will Start Working in 3-6 Months."
Discussion of “sm-102” appears on Telegram, the WIN communities, and Reddit. Specific posts and related details can be found in the appendix.
Narrowing the time frame to the past week shows the incline and shows the narrative may be on its way to going viral.
Narratives & Key Claims
"luciferase mRNA in SM-102-containing lipid nanoparticles induces hepatic luciferase expression in mice"
Luciferase claims appeared earlier in the pandemic and can be found in the Hoaxlines database.
Feb 2021: On February 7, 2021, the Editor-in-Chief of “Kvakutkhedi”, Khatuna Saghinashvili published a post on Facebook expressing distrust of the vaccine against COVID-19 and claiming that the pandemic is an artificial weapon created by globalists that aim to annihilate the population.
Dec 2020: On December 7, Tvalsazrisi.ge published an article with the title “Father Kleomenis: “Let’s resist chipping and New World Order – Antichrist’s plans 666! Be cautious and attentive!!!”. The article is the translation of Greek Father Kleomenis’s video address, where he speaks about universal compulsory vaccination against coronavirus with nanochip and Luciferin and altering DNA with the said vaccine. Tvalsazrisi.ge cites a December 6 Facebook video of Spyridon Voukalis, showcasing father Kleomenis’s speech. Later, on December 8, the identical text was posted by the Facebook page სტალინი (Stalin).
Earlier misinformation similarly linked the CDC VAERS database in popular mis/disinformation. The information in the database or on the FDA website is true or a real submission, so it’s not that the evidence itself is false. Misinterpretation of meaning appears to be the key issue.
That “sm-102” is “Not for Human or Veterinary Use”
A post titled, “Connecticut Publishes Moderna COVID Vax Ingredients: DEADLY POISON "SM-102 - Not for Human or Veterinary Use” appears on Telegram and Instagram and was copied and pasted by multiple users. This is a source of one of the main claims that humans should reject the vaccine because it contains something not intended for human use.
Channel: The Patriot Voice 🇺🇸 (QAnon John)
Channels: God Wins!; QStormForce Chat; VACCINE REACTIONS (GRAPHIC!); Covid vaccines injured=blessés=heridos
Channels with similar claims but not identical content: Pharmageddon; Stop White South African Genocide; BASED ANON; /pol/ 4chan; DUTCH DIGGER NEWS; Quest for Truth
Popular Links and Subreddits
Partisan Differences
Using Google Trends, which detected the upward trend for “sm-102,” North and South Dakota were noteworthy in the interest compared to other states. Coloring states to reflect the 117th Congress and the results of the four most recent presidential elections, there appears to be a Red-state bias toward these searches.
That said, it may be an artifact of a third related factor, but this aligns with what we have observed over the course of the pandemic where Republicans were less likely or willing to wear masks and socially distance and they are now less likely to get vaccinated.
Estimates vary but Ipso’s series of polls from 2021 shows these trends holding. Although Independents were also vaccine-hesitant in the winter of 2020, they shifted toward openness as time went on, while the Republicans held steady.
Democrats have become less vaccine-hesitant compared to the winter as well and they have been the least vaccine-hesitant political demographic for the Covid-19 pandemic.
There are few single sources of COVID information that is trusted by a large majority of the country. Many news outlets are particularly suspect.
The CDC continues to be trusted by about two-thirds (68%) of Americans for accurate COVID information. However, only half (51%) of Republicans trust the organization.
When it comes to news outlets, the networks continue to be trusted by about half (47%) of the country, but cable news (38%) and online news (36%) are much more warily regarded.
Over half (53%) continue to trust what President Biden says about the pandemic.
—Ipsos Polll, Mar ‘21
While much media coverage centers on Republicans being vaccine-hesitant at the present, our attention ought to be focused on how we managed to reverse those trends. Understanding that may be an answer to vaccine hesitancy in the long term. In the 2012 presidential election, states that went to Obama had the highest percentages of child exemptions. States that went to Romney had lower rates of vaccine exemption.
How, in a matter of years, did we turn the tides?