Bill Gates: the ‘voodoo doll’ of Covid conspiracies
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 9 June 2020
⏱️ 17 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Why are there so many conspiracy theories swirling in the online world about billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates? Jane Wakefield explores why people might seek conspiracy theories, and asks if they are just part of the online rumour-mill, or can cause actual harm. Jane hears from Rory Smith from fact-checkers First Draft News, from Marianna Spring from the BBC’s anti-disinformation team, and from Professor Joseph Usinski, who argues that these kinds of theories have always been a part of life, and most die away naturally. But Rory Smith and Bill Gates himself warn that they could harm vaccine uptake, and are more than a bit of online fun. Photo of Bill Gates, photo credit AFP/Getty
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is Business Daily on the BBC World Service. I'm Jane Wakefield. |
| 0:06.1 | Today, we're delving into the world of conspiracy theories and asking why one man in particular |
| 0:11.8 | finds himself at the heart of so many. |
| 0:14.4 | It's as if all these conspiracy communities have kind of converged on him. |
| 0:18.7 | So I like to think of him as he's kind of this voodoo doll that all these |
| 0:22.2 | communities are pricking with their own conspiracies. And there are all these conspiracies about |
| 0:27.4 | Bill Gates funding the BBC. There are conspiracy theories about Bill Gates having created coronavirus |
| 0:32.3 | in a lab. It is a bit worrying that there's some of that crazy stuff. I'm kind of surprised that some of that |
| 0:38.9 | is focused on me. One of the richest men in the world and probably the best known philanthropist |
| 0:44.2 | alive today, Bill Gates has become a magnet for online groups claiming the world isn't as it seems. |
| 0:50.9 | So why do people believe conspiracy theories? And are they just a bit of fun or something far more sinister? |
| 0:57.4 | Lots and lots of conspiracy theories get proposed and the vast majority die on the vine. People don't get into it, they don't like it, they don't share it, they don't really care. |
| 1:06.8 | Business Daily on the BBC. |
| 1:10.7 | Since news began, there have been people out to sow seeds of doubt. |
| 1:15.3 | From the moon landings to the death of Princess Diana, |
| 1:18.4 | conspiracy theories have coexisted alongside the facts. |
| 1:22.2 | And in the current health crisis, there are plenty doing the rounds. |
| 1:26.3 | Ex-Microsoft boss, Bill Gates, is at the heart of many. |
| 1:30.3 | The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has led the fight to improve public health in the developing |
| 1:34.6 | world, and in 2015, shortly after the Ebola outbreak, Mr. Gates addressed the TED conference |
| 1:40.7 | in Canada to make a remarkably prescient speech. |
| 1:49.5 | If anything kills over 10 million people in the next few decades, |
... |
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