While government agencies were spreading the newly tooled public health messages about SPARS, Kalocivir, and Corovax through a variety of traditional and social media outlets, several popular platforms were overlooked. A notable example was UNEQL, a social media interface used at the time almost exclusively by college students. UNEQL was designed and first used at the University of California Berkeley in 2023. The initial purpose of the interface was to provide undergraduate college students with a common forum to collectively critique local, national, and international social and economic policies such as anti-immigration laws and drug policies. By 2026, the interface still maintained a critical focus but had expanded to include an underground news reporting system, led by seven primary “reporters” across the country; a satirical news feed that could be streamed as a caption on any program running on IAT; and special interest message boards accessible to anyone. While UNEQL was the primary news source of many college students on the east and west coasts, its existence and particularly its prominence was largely unknown outside of college communities and completely ignored by most public health agencies.The SPARS pandemic and concerns about the disease prompted a sizeable response on UNEQL. While information shared about SPARS closely followed the information provided by the CDC, FDA, and other agencies, information about Kalocivir was often incorrect. Multiple message board threads questioned, in detail, the accelerated clinical trial process; others examined alternative treatments for SPARS, including VMax; and the second most popular “reporter,” StanfordGY, led discussions on and organized protests against how Kalocivir was being administered, particularly focusing on how a lack of access to primary care could result in unequal access to the drug

Multiple message board threads questioned, in detail, the accelerated clinical trial process

Translation: rushed emergency clinical trials by Pfizer/Johnson/Moderna with no regard for long-term side effects

others examined alternative treatments for SPARS, including VMax

Translation: HCQ/Ivermectin

led discussions on and organized protests against how Kalocivir was being administered

Translation: Vax passports.