How conspiracy theory gained traction

Microsoft founder Bill Gates is the new bete noire for conspiracy theorists worldwide, including in Africa where a Kenyan politician's false online post has fuelled the spread of misinformation. Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko in March published an old video of Gates warning about the consequences of a future pandemic, with the caption ‘Bill Gates told us about the corona virus 2015 (sic)’. A report on the EWN site notes that Sonko's post generated so many interactions among his 2m Facebook followers that it remains the most prolific global post about Gates in the Covid-19 era. That’s according to social media analysis tool CrowdTangle. So far, it has been shared more than 1m times and has garnered 38m views on social media. The post highlights the role played by local public figures in spreading false or misleading claims in different parts of the world, according to the Washington-based Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab), which studies disinformation globally. ‘They typically travel beyond ... niche communities when an influencer, such as a prominent celebrity, or even mainstream media source, amplifies them,’ DFRLab's Zarine Kharazian is quoted as saying. He added that ‘once they've achieved this level of spread, they migrate across languages’.

Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina appears to have made a U-turn regarding the coronavirus remedy he claimed his country had developed. As previously reported in Legalbrief Today, Rajoelina last month launched a local herbal tonic which he said could prevent and cure coronavirus. This was disputed by the WHO and Madagascar’s National Medical Academy also cast doubt on the efficacy of the artemisia-based drink, saying it had the potential to damage the health of patients. Michelle Sahondrarimalala, a director of Madagascar’s judicial studies department, denied claims that the ‘remedy’ would be injected into patients.