Does the Italian Government want Bill Gates arrested? Fact Check

Microsoft founder and global philanthropist Bill Gates and his wife Melinda are keen to help the scientists’ community to develop a comprehensive response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. But at the same time, rumours are going viral on social media attributing sinister plans behind their work.

Here’s a video is being shared online and claims that the Italian government has moved to arrest Bill Gates. You can read the recent blog post here.

Italian Government calls for Arrest of Bill Gates.
Watch Full Video:https://t.co/t70mw7Wgqm#ArrestBillGates pic.twitter.com/8asVtkozKG

— #BlackLivesMatterAfrica (@AfricaRepublic) May 15, 2020

Fact Check

The headline of the blog is a misleading exaggeration unless the entire article is read or the entire video is watched. But due to our shrinking attention span, it has become a viral rumour and widely shared online without thoroughly going through it.

Not the entire Italian government, but a single member of parliament, Sara Cunial, gave a speech in which she called for Gates’ arrest. It should be noted that there is no evidence that follows nor that the speech was endorsed by the Italian government.

Cunial in her speech to make her case spoke about a number of conspiracy theories regarding coronavirus. For example, she linked the spread of the disease to the rise of 5G technology, claimed Gates was working to depopulate the world, a fake claim that DigitEye busted here.

Sara Cunial, part of Italy’s “5 Star Movement,” a political party that has been blamed for a surge in the number of measles cases in Italy after pushing against vaccinations, was briefly suspended from the party in 2018 after equating vaccines to “free genocide” in a Facebook post.

Bill Gates and the Gates Foundation have repeatedly denied the allegations that they wanted to develop vaccinations to kill children. The organization has reiterated that if parents believe their children will survive—and if they have the power to time and space their pregnancies—they choose to have fewer children, and they are more likely to support them well too. Here’s how they explained it:

“When more children live, you get one generation that’s relatively big. Then, when families decide to have fewer children, the next generation is much smaller. Eventually, a country ends up with relatively more people in the labor force producing economically—and relatively fewer dependents (very old or very young people). That’s a recipe for rapid economic development, especially if countries take advantage of it by investing in health and education.”

Conclusion: This is one of numerous allegations levelled against Gates Foundation, this time by a anti-vaccination activist and Italian pariament member. Our rating is Totally False –