Bill Gates and the coronavirus? Back away from dangerous COVID-19 falsehoods

Bill Gates is spreading the coronavirus so he can make money from testing. That ridiculous story has been circulating on Facebook for several weeks, but it was just re-posted by a “Facebook friend” a few days ago. According to her convoluted version of the story, the virus was first concocted in a University of North Carolina lab funded by the Obama Administration. Gates then somehow got control of the disease and had it transferred to a Chinese lab for its release. To make the virus kill as many people as possible, Gates is “placing carriers in the midst of vulnerable populations” so as to maximize profits from his testing kits.

The story is so obviously false it is laughable, except the post I read was shared seven times, with one viewer commenting “I suspect most, if not all of this is true…. I believe all of this was planned to bring down the economy and President Trump.”

The rumor is not confined to conservatives. According to NBC News, the conspiracy has been circulated by Cedric the Entertainer, D.L. Hughley and other African-American celebrities, and it went viral after a self-described “influential mystic” shared it on Instagram.

Sadly, we have now come to this. In the midst of an unprecedented national crisis, many Americans - some of whom consider themselves patriots - are actively promoting fear, distrust and alienation through disinformation.

Their posts continue despite the warnings of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who last week denounced China and Iran for starting rumors the virus originated in American labs. People continue to circulate falsehoods even after the European Union reported that Russia has mounted “a significant disinformation campaign” to aggravate the pandemic in western countries.

According to Financial Times reporters who saw the E.U. memo, “Russian-state linked false personas and accounts” that have previously pushed out other propaganda, are now promoting the idea that coronavirus is “a human creation, weaponized by the West.” Russia is blaming capitalists for trying to benefit from the virus.

It’s a strategy we’ve come to know well. The EU document says pro-Kremlin outlets may not be authoring the disinformation but simply amplifying false reports from other sources. “These efforts are in line with the Kremlin’s broader strategy of… exploiting vulnerabilities and divisions.”

There’s a lot to exploit. This week, even after President Trump stepped back from describing the virus as the Democrat’s “new hoax,” North Carolinians posted messages that the nation’s top immunologist, Anthony Fauci, is holding up a cure for the virus. “If we find the proper treatment, he loses his celebrity,” wrote one Facebook commenter.

The reason for the belief in Fauci’s evil designs? Uplinked to the post was an American Thinker article calling Fauci a “deep state, Hillary Clinton-loving stooge” because he reportedly sent a warm email to a Clinton associate when the Secretary of State was ill.

Fauci - who has led the National Institutes of Allergy and Immunology since 1984 - is the country’s most trusted voice on coronavirus. One can only imagine how the stock market would react if he were fired. It makes sense that foreign adversaries would try to diminish his credibility. But Americans?

We are now at a moment of decision. Can Americans, even for a few days, stop sharing rumors and ugliness that fit within our conspiratorial or partisan worldviews? Can we back away from the keyboard? If not, maybe we can all shoot a few more cat videos. Although then, I fear, someone will share the rumor that Bill Gates is shooting cats.

This story was originally published March 27, 2020 at 7:53 AM with the headline "Bill Gates and the coronavirus? Back away from dangerous COVID-19 falsehoods."