Last week, BuzzFeed News reported that Julian Lennon’s Facebook page was one of the biggest accounts to share a viral list of “positive news” about the coronavirus, which a fact-checking site has deemed “mostly true” but with misleading elements and lacking important context. It also contains an unorthodox writing style: "Our true work is to LOOK AFTER EACH OTHER as our Grand Parents did, to PROTECT each other & to be of BENEFIT to one another." His post begins with a disclaimer: “(I haven't verified this yet, but it's more about the point that is being made, rather than who said it.)” His post gained thousands of likes and shares in under 24 hours. Julian Lennon has 1.4 million Facebook followers. The quote then got a huge boost on Monday when it was shared by major Facebook accounts, including that of Julian Lennon, a British singer and son of John Lennon.
The false quote appears to have started in a few small Facebook groups on Sunday evening, according to a BuzzFeed News analysis using CrowdTangle, a social media monitoring tool. It warns against consuming water “contaminated with chemicals upon chemicals” and concludes “whereas many see the Corona/ Covid-19 virus as a great disaster, I prefer to see it as a *great corrector*".Ī spokesperson for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation confirmed to BuzzFeed News that the Microsoft cofounder did not say these words.
The lengthy quote falsely attributed to Gates describes the “spiritual” purpose behind the coronavirus. Its journey demonstrates the breakneck speed at which a falsehood can start on WhatsApp and take on a life of its own, becoming impossible to suppress when given a boost by major public figures and mainstream media outlets. A false Bill Gates quote about “spirituality” and the novel coronavirus appeared on social media on Sunday within a day, after being shared by some verified Facebook pages with millions of followers, it was written up by two of Britain's biggest news publishers.
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