Authors
Claim
A video claiming “Massive calls for Bill Gates arrest intensifies in America” has been circulating on social media. The video shows people gathered with slogan boards depicting a sort of rally or protest and shouting “arrest Bill Gates.”
Factcheck
We received this video along with the following poster on our Whatsapp verification helpline number for clarification.
The 16-second video shows a large number of people gathered as if in a rally or protest with slogan boards and some with American flags chanting in unison. The video claims that people’s voices for Bill Gates’ arrest in the United States is getting louder.
The same video is posted on multiple Youtube channels, you can view them here & here.
This video along with the poster we received for verification and other material related to the video’s title “Massive calls for Bill Gates arrest intensifies in America,” has been shared by multiple Twitter users this month.
We noticed this video gaining some momentum on Facebook as well. A related post below claims that a “White House Petition seeking for the arrest of Microsoft founder “turned into a doctor” though he never studied medicine has reached 477,422 signatures.”
During our research we found a few related results of the video. A report published by Aynaijang News in May 2020 claimed that there was a massive public outcry for Bill Gates’ arrest in the United States over production of the COVID-19 vaccine.
We also came across a video on the Guardian News Youtube channel (see below). This video shows demonstrations of the US citizens in Ohio, Texas, and Maryland against lockdown orders put in place to minimise the spread of the novel coronavirus. In the video people can be heard shouting “You can’t close America,” “Let us work” and “No more charity.” This video claims that the Texas demonstrations were organised by right-wing media site InfoWars.
News reports published by NBC News and Business Insider tell us about mass protests against the lockdown due to the ongoing pandemic in the United States. These protests also attracted anti-vaccine advocates who chanted “fire” in relation to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s infectious-disease expert. According to these reports, mass gatherings of people were witnessed outside the state capitol building in Austin, Texas. Citizens wanted a reopening of the state for their work to resume.
As the United States of America continues to be the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, a number of false claims targeting billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates have surfaced on social media. From funding and planning the COVID-19 pandemic to vaccine plans, Bill Gates has been a target of many conspiracy theorists and anti-vaccine advocates. This May 2020 news report details the same.
Conclusion
According to our research on this video, we find that videos of protests against lockdown in the United States have been fabricated and shared with misleading claims including Bill Gates’s arrest.
Tools Used
Google search
Youtube
Result: Misleading with fabricated news.
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