Rebekah Jones' Florida COVID 'Data Manipulation' Claims
Coverage elevated Rebekah Jones, the former manager of Florida's COVID dashboard, as a whistleblower fired for refusing to manipulate data to support reopening.
The story served a narrative that Republican Gov. DeSantis' administration was hiding the pandemic's toll.
What was reported
Coverage elevated Rebekah Jones, the former manager of Florida's COVID dashboard, as a whistleblower fired for refusing to manipulate data to support reopening.
What actually happened
Initial stories attributed the claims to Jones, but she became a national media figure presented as a data scientist exposing a cover-up. A May 2022 Florida Department of Health inspector general report found insufficient evidence that she was asked to falsify positivity rates, found her termination claim unsubstantiated, and noted she lacked high-level data access. The IG did not examine her separate claim that deaths were hidden.
The proof
The Florida DOH Office of Inspector General's 2022 report found her core data-manipulation allegations unsubstantiated.
The receipt. Copy this and paste it anywhere:
Rebekah Jones' Florida COVID 'Data Manipulation' Claims — Unproven. The Florida DOH Office of Inspector General's 2022 report found her core data-manipulation allegations unsubstantiated. Full file: https://www.thepropagandafiles.com/case/rebekah-jones-florida-covid-data/
Original reporting
- NBC News: Florida official says she was ousted for refusing to censor coronavirus data (May 2020)https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/florida-official-says-she-was-ousted-refusing-censor-coronavirus-data-n1210551
Corrections, findings & records
- NBC News: Florida IG report finds 'insufficient evidence' for Jones' claimshttps://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/florida-ig-report-insufficient-evidence-desantis-critics-claims-covid-rcna30647
- CNN (via ABC17): Fired data scientist's claims 'unsubstantiated,' IG report findshttps://abc17news.com/news/national-world/cnn-national/2022/05/27/fired-data-scientists-claims-of-covid-19-data-manipulation-unsubstantiated-florida-ig-report-finds/
- WLRN: Report finds Jones' claims unsubstantiated and unfoundedhttps://www.wlrn.org/news/2022-05-30/report-finds-rebekah-jones-claims-of-covid-19-manipulation-to-be-unsubstantiated-and-unfounded
Archived copies
Stories get edited after publication. These open the Internet Archive's earliest saved copy of each original.
- Archived copy: NBC News: Florida official says she was ousted for refusing to censor coronavirus data (May 2020)https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/florida-official-says-she-was-ousted-refusing-censor-coronavirus-data-n1210551