After unfounded rumours that 5G causes the novel coronavirus, a new viral conspiracy theory is doing the rounds, the allegation that Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is behind the virus’s spread.
According to a report by The New York Times and media analytics company Zignal Labs, conspiracy theories linking Gates to the virus were mentioned 1.2 million times on both TV and social media between February and April, 33 per cent more than 5G-related conspiracy theories. In April, such theories were mentioned 18,000 times a day, according to the report.
The posts usually refer to a 2015 TED talk by Gates where he warns that the greatest threat facing mankind is not nuclear war but a global pandemic. “If anything kills over 10 million people in the next few decades, it’s most likely to be a highly infectious virus.”
Now, conspiracy theories centred on Gates, largely from right-wing quarters in the United States, has used his early warning as a sign that he may have known about the virus all along.
Gates had been a frequent critic of the US’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, writing in an opinion piece that “there’s no question the United States missed the opportunity to get ahead of the novel coronavirus.” He spoke out against President Donald Trump’s threat to defund the WHO as well, saying the world needs the WHO now more than ever. Critics, however, said that Gates funded the WHO and was thus opposed to Trump’s efforts.
Gates’s Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, with a $46.8 billion endowment, has been at the forefront of fighting dangerous diseases across the world. Recently, Gates announced another $150 million to be given to coronavirus relief efforts around the world. It had earlier pledged $250 million towards coronavirus-fighting efforts.
This has not stopped conspiracy theorists from theorising that Gates had helped work on a plan to depopulate the world such a virus, or use it as an opportunity to implant every person with a microchip spying on their movements, or that he had ad the virus designed so he could sell the vaccine for it.
Theorists dug out a coronavirus-related patent by the Pirbright Institue, a British research group that had received funding from the Gate Foundation, to allege that Gates would benefit from a COVID-19 vaccine. However, this patent was for a strain of coronavirus that affects farm animals, not humans.
The conditions that led to the creation of the novel coronavirus, as far as is best known today, were an outcome of the illicit wildlife trade in China, and not the result of a billionaire pooling resources towards depopulation.
Gates had spoken about the rise of such outlandish theories before, telling Chinese channel CCTV "I'd say it's ironic if you take somebody who's doing their best to get the world ready. We are in a crazy situation so there's going to be crazy rumours.”
“We need to make it [vaccine] without just focusing on one country, we need to make it for the entire world, including for countries that don’t have the resources to pay for vaccine research or vaccine factories,” he added.
The study by Zignal Labs and the New York Times, however, suggests that the popularity of Bill Gates related conspiracy theories have now outshone even ridiculous claims like the one that 5G causes-coronavirus, which led to 5G towers being burned in the UK.
