- Written by Jack Goodman and Flora Carmichael
- bbc reality check
image source, Gaston Brito
Some of the most persistent conspiracy theories surrounding the coronavirus pandemic continue to spread around the world.
We picked some of the most prevalent false claims and looked at how far they spread.
Bringing 5G to Bolivia and beyond
However, these rumors have spread around the world, and protests are occurring even in countries where the technology does not yet exist.
In Bolivia, the sharing of videos of telecommunications equipment along with claims that 5G causes the coronavirus led to attacks on masts in two towns.
Adriana Olivera, a journalist with Bolivia Verifica, said that although the country does not have 5G technology, “these rumors, coupled with the fact that everyone is locked down, are driving people to use Cara Ka.” This led to the situation where the antenna had to be pulled down.” Ara and Yapacani”.
Anti-5G posts are also being shared in Peru.
Even some senior politicians and religious leaders are spreading false claims about this technology, linking it to the spread of the virus.
In a video shared 25,000 times on Facebook, a former Nigerian senator said the pandemic was purely a cover for 5G rollout and suggested it would cause harm.
“People with underlying health conditions can easily become exhausted and die from the reaction of this 5G technology,” he says.
An evangelical pastor in Tanzania said on Instagram and YouTube that the push for mobile technology is behind the spread of the coronavirus.
Egypt’s former Grand Mufti spoke on television about 5G networks and how they caused electromagnetic interference and created the perfect environment for the spread of the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, fear-mongering has sparked protests and attacks on masts in Europe as well.
The BBC reported on dozens of incidents of antenna vandalism in the UK.
Bill Gates received a lot of coverage in Serbian media during the pandemic
In Serbia, 5G conspiracies and speculation about Bill Gates are also popular on both television and tabloid newspapers, with articles often quoted from English and Russian sources.
“So we’re seeing the same fake news content as in the UK, the US, etc.,” said Lazara Marinković, who reports on disinformation for BBC News Serbian.
A clip in which he discusses the link between 5G and the virus has been censored on social media, but remains accessible online and has racked up hundreds of thousands of views on Russian YouTube and Facebook accounts.
bill gates and microchip
One of the most widespread false claims is that the pandemic is a grand plan masterminded by Bill Gates to implant microchips in humans along with a coronavirus vaccine.
Despite the lack of any evidence to support this theory, its global influence is considerable. IFCN, the International Fact-Checking Network, includes a database containing coronavirus fact-checks from its partner network. It shows fact checkers in at least 14 countries have debunked local versions of the microchip theory, including Greece, Kazakhstan, the Philippines and Mexico.
An Argentine YouTube video supporting this theory has been viewed 1.3 million times.
Another Facebook video from Pakistan echoes this claim and has been viewed about 650,000 times since it was posted in May.
Some versions of the theory have their own local interpretations. This fictional microchip is called the “Antichrist Chip” in Arabic, and the video has been viewed more than 375,000 times on his YouTube and multiple posts on Facebook.
BBC News Brazil discovered a version of the “microchip” theory in Portuguese-language messages circulating on WhatsApp and Facebook. Users are copying and pasting chunks of text that begin with the words, “I must confess, Bill Gates is truly an evil genius! Controlling submissive people is easy.”
The message further goes on to say that Bill Gates is finalizing plans for a “stamp-type vaccine that will penetrate under the skin,” which will be linked to a person’s social media profile to control them via 5G. He claims that it will.
The combination of microchip theory and 5G conspiracies was boosted in Brazil by Alain dos Santos, a strong supporter of President Bolsonaro who is the subject of a “fake news” investigation by Brazil’s federal government.
In a tweet that has been liked more than 14,000 times, Bill Gates quotes a Pakistani commentator as saying he wants to implant a nanochip vaccine to control the population through 5G. He distanced himself somewhat from the allegations, adding: “Is it absurd? We need to discuss this.”
Multilingual moderation
Content moderation around the world is outsourced by Facebook to international fact-checking organizations. Some regions, such as North America and Europe, have stricter systems in place than others and are “fact-checking deserts,” said First Draft’s Rory Smith.
He warned that “as more people begin to believe these conspiracies, vaccine hesitancy will increase, which in itself could fuel a new global public health crisis.”
Additional reporting by Zulfiqar Ali, Nader Ibrahim, Lazara Marinkovic, Peter Mwai, Olga Robinson, Shayan Sardarizadeh, and Ricardo Senra.
