Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates says he is stunned by the volume of “crazy” and “malicious” conspiracy theories circulating on social media about the COVID-19 pandemic. , today that he would like to investigate what is hidden behind them.
In an interview with Reuters, Gates said millions of Internet posts and “crazy conspiracy theories” about him and top US epidemiologist Anthony Fauci may have been in part due to a combination of a terrifying viral pandemic and the rise of social media. .
“No one would have predicted that Dr. Fauci and I would dominate these really malicious theories,” Gates said. “It simply came to my notice then. I hope he calms down. “
Gates, a billionaire who stepped down as president of Microsoft in 2014, has pledged at least $ 1.75 billion through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to tackle the global COVID-19 pandemic. This includes support for some vaccine companies, diagnostic methods and possible treatments.
Since the pandemic began a year ago, millions of theories have circulated on the Internet, fueling misinformation about the coronavirus, its origins and the motivations of those working to tackle it. These include allegations that Fauci and Gates created the pandemic to try to control humans, that they want to profit from the spread of the virus, and that they want to use vaccines to introduce detection chips into the human body.
“Do people really believe that?” Gates asked.
“We really need to be educated about this next year and understand… how it changes people's behavior and how we should have minimized it.”
Gates praised Fauci and Francis Collins, heads of the US National Institutes of Health, calling them “smart” and “wonderful people” and said he looked forward to seeing them work efficiently and tell the truth under the new government. by President Joe Biden.
During the management of the pandemic by former President Donald Trump, Gates said, “Sometimes you felt like you were the only sane people in the US government.”
“I'm excited about the team Biden chose to manage the health crisis,” Gates said.
Gates also said he was pleased that under Biden the United States had returned to the World Health Organization “for the appointment of smart people, and for the fact that Dr. “Fauci will not be oppressed.”
