Covid conspiracy theorists forced to apologise over viral video about youth leader

A former reality TV contestant and COVID-19 conspiracy theorist has backtracked on a viral video and issued a grovelling apology after he was threatened with legal action.

Anti-lockdown protester Fanos Panayides has been forced to apologise over viral video. Picture: AAP

A pair of coronavirus conspiracy theorists have been forced to apologise after posting a viral video which falsely claimed a Melbourne youth leader was a “paid crisis actor” who lied about contracting the deadly disease.

Anti-lockdown protest organiser and former reality TV contestant Fanos Panayides, 38, issued the “unequivocal” apology on Friday after he was slapped with legal warning by lawyers acting for multicultural advocate Ahmed Hassan.

Mr Panayides, along with Covid denier Raphael Fernandes, published the 30 minute video in July which wrongfully claimed Mr Hassan had lied about testing positive and had “conspired with corrupt politicians for financial gain”.

The video, which was viewed more than 40,000 times and attracted thousands of comments and shares, has since been taken down from social media.

Mr Panayides, who previously appeared on Family Food Fight, posted his minute-long retraction to his 30,000 followers on his Facebook page on Friday during which he apologised for “any hurt or damage caused” to Mr Hassan and his family.

Mr Fernandes also issued his own grovelling apology for a separate video in which he claimed Mr Hassan had “likely associated with politicians who were paedophiles”.

“These representations … were not based on any actual facts,” he said.

Hassan, 23, was hospitalised in July with COVID-19 and shared his experience with the virus to encourage other young people to “take it seriously”.

Ahmed Hassan [left] was hospitalised with coronavirus in July. Picture: Alex Coppel.

The director of not-for-profit Youth Activating Youth told the Herald Sun the video – and the subsequent backlash he received – had severely impacted his mental health.

“It pushed me to the brink,” Mr Hassan said.

“It spread hatred and lies into the community. I was targeted for months,” he said.

Mr Hassan said he was forced to close off all his social media after he and his family received threats.

“I really struggled mentally and relied on the people around me to keep me afloat,” he said.

“(The apology) is a win for the truth,” he said.

Mr Panayides was arrested last month and charged with incitement after organising a “freedom day” event to protest against Victoria’s lockdown laws.

He is due back in court in February.