Silicon Valley Twitter is brawling over coronavirus theories

There is no shortage of coronavirus armchair experts on Twitter. Now, prominent Silicon Valley investors and founders are fighting in the mentions. They’re taking swings at one another about the alleged promise of treatments, the validity of studies, the efficacy of health organizations and the media, and, of course, petty personal insults. 

It’s a mess, albeit an entertaining one.

While Silicon Valley figures have been tweeting about the coronavirus for a while, it really came to a head Wednesday when Keith Rabois, a former PayPal, LinkedIn and Square investor, got in a Twitter fight with Jack Weinberg, the CEO of health tech startup Flatiron Health, over two drug testing theories. Rabois was advocating for a more fast-tracked, generally less scientifically accepted form of drug testing, while Weinberg said we need randomized controlled trials. Things got personal, fast.

Even Dr. Anthony Fauci appears to have weighed in on the issue. Whether or not it’s related to the Twitter fight? Hard to say, guys.

The problem with all of this digital bickering is that the messages broadcast by self-appointed experts on public health issues can dilute and undermine important information from official health agencies. What’s more, the views of these “experts” are reportedly reaching the White House, thanks to Silicon Valley super fan Jared Kushner’s close relationship with President Donald Trump.

Trump is buying some of the less scientifically accepted bluster, and that’s having real-world consequences. 

Trump tweeted about the potential of chloroquine phosphate as a coronavirus “cure,” and then a man died from taking it on Trump’s advice, according to his wife. It’s a substance lauded by Silicon Valley figures with questionable medical expertise.

It’s understandable that people concerned with innovation are invested in helping the world combat coronavirus, and that it’s manifesting on Twitter. But it has also laid bare a certain strain of Silicon Valley thinking that distrusts government and believes expertise in the tech world gives them carte blanche to blast their opinions on everything else.

Many Silicon Valley bigwigs came out of the woodwork in the comments of the brawl. Some, like investor and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, clowned on Rabois for what Ohanian points out as a hypocritical sense of self-worth. Others, like successful investor Josh Elman, took the opportunity to laud the prescience of Silicon Valley over public health agencies.

Famous angel investor Jason Calacanis even attempted to defuse the fight with some light self-satire. 

Meanwhile, a partner at the famed VC firm, Sequoia, soothed nerves with a reminder that Quibi will soon be here to calm us all.

Coronavirus is at the top of everyone’s mind. But as another investor, Stuart Buck, points out, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the voice of anyone who’s ever made money from tech investing is one that needs to be heard.

Until that message sinks in, the timeline will continue to bless us with legendary tweets like this one. Keep on “saving lives, literally,” boys.