[ANALYSIS] Bill Gates conspiracy theories echo through Africa eNCA
A protesters holds placards on the steps of Victoria's state parliament in Melbourne to protest the state's tough lockdown laws as well as 5G, vaccinations and coronavirus being a hoax.As the novel coronavirus wreaks global havoc, Bill Gates is the new bete noire for conspiracy theorists worldwideWhile
have long provided ample fodder for speculation, the bogus claims have gained new traction amid the pandemic.warning about the consequences of a future pandemic, with the caption"Bill Gates told us about the corona virus 2015 ".While the clip shows the philanthropist telling an audience that the world was unprepared for global outbreaks in his TED talk five years ago, he made no mention of the coronavirus.
Sonko's post generated so many interactions among his two-million plus Facebook followers that it remains the most prolific global post about Gates in the COVID-19 era, according to social media analysis tool CrowdTangle. So far, it has been shared more than one million times and has garnered 38 million views on social media.The post highlights the role played by local public figures in spreading false or misleading claims in different parts of the world, according to the Washington-based Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab , which studies disinformation globally.
"They typically travel beyond... niche communities when an influencer, such as a prominent celebrity, or even mainstream media source, amplifies them," DFRLab's Zarine Kharazian told AFP.- 'All-powerful elites' -
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