Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Claim
Bill Gates dubs Ukraine government as corrupt and one of the worst in the world
Fact
Clipped video taken out of context. Gates criticised the “pre-war” Ukrainian government while speaking at the Lowy Institute
Several social media users are circulating a video, where Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is heard criticising the Ukrainian for its corruption. “The Ukrainian Government is one of the worst in the world. Corrupt, controlled by a few rich people”, Gates says in the now viral video, sparking varied reactions from social media users.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict entered into its second year on February 24, 2023, with no end in sight to the war that has reportedly “killed tens of thousands of people, flattened cities and towns, forced millions to flee and brought a Cold War chill to global ties”.
The archived versions of the tweets can be seen here and here.
Fact check/Verification
Newschecker analysed the 11-second video and noticed the watermark of “Lowy Institute”, an independent think tank based out of Sydney, Australia. A relevant keyword search led us to this Youtube video uploaded by Lowy Institute on January 23, 2023. The 1:00:19 video was titled “Preparing for Global Challenges: In Conversation with Bill Gates” and its description read, “In a special in-person conversation with Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove, Mr Gates will talk about global health, pandemic preparedness, food security and climate change.”
At the 27:21 mark, Gates was asked about Ukraine, particularly about the leadership of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president. Gates states in response that it has been impressive how Zelenskyy has gathered the country together and how people did not expect Ukraine to be successful in “avoiding Russia taking over the country”. He further said that the response was a mix of unexpected Russian weakness and Ukrainian strength, after which he said at the 28:25 mark, “Pre-war, the Ukrainian government is one of the worst in the world—corrupt, controlled by a few rich people. I mean, really unfortunate for the people in Ukraine,” indicating that the viral video was clipped and taken out of context. Gates remarked that Ukraine is a country that has “a lot of promise, but in the meantime, it is being destroyed and no one knows how long this war will go on”. He did not specify which time period he meant by pre-war, whether it was before the invasion in February 2022, or the 2014 annexation of Crimea.
We also came across this news report, dated January 30, 2023, stating, “Billionaire philanthropist and climate change activist Bill Gates said the Ukrainian government, pre-war, ‘is one of the worst in the world, corrupt, controlled by a few rich people’,” confirming that the viral video was clipped.
Conclusion
Viral video of Bill Gates terming the Ukraine government as one of the worst was shared after removing the word “pre-war” from the beginning of his quote, making it seem like he was talking about the current government.
Result: Missing Context
Sources
Youtube video, Lowy Institute, January 23, 2023
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
