比尔·盖茨超过5G成为新冠病毒阴谋论的头号目标

以下内容来自The Verge网站4/17日的报道，笔者进行了简要的翻译。

Bill Gates is now the favorite target for coronavirus misinformation according to data compiled by the New York Times and Zignal Labs, a company that analyzes media sources. Conspiracy theories conflating Gates with the virus were mentioned 1.2 million times on TV and social media from February to April, 33 percent more often than the 2nd most popular conspiracy theory linking 5G with COVID-19, according to Zignal Labs, peaking at 18,000 mentions a day in April.

根据《纽约时报》和Zignal 实验室的分析报告，自二月以来，提及盖茨与新冠的阴谋论已经在电视和新媒体上传播了120万次，超过5G新冠阴谋论33%。四月最高峰一天就达到18000次传播。

Hoaxes directed at the Microsoft co-founder turned philanthropist, are all over YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. The New York Times found 16,000 posts on Facebook this year that were liked and commented on nearly 900,000 times. The 10 most popular Youtube videos spreading misinformation about Gates and the virus were viewed almost five millions times in March and April. The falsehoods being spread vary, but range from him creating COVID-19 in order to profit from a vaccine, or of Gates being a member of a plot to cull humanity and/or implement a global surveillance system.

油管上观看次数最多的10个带有误导性信息的视频总浏览量（三月和四月）达到了500万次，主题包括盖茨通过制造新冠肺炎以在疫苗生产中牟利，或者是盖茨参与密谋选择性清除人类和/或建立一个全球监控系统。

A Bill Gates speech from 2015, where he warns that the greatest threat to humanity is infectious disease, not nuclear war, has received 25 million new views in recent weeks. According to the New York Times, anti-vaxxers, right-wing pundits, and members of the conspiracy group QAnon claim the video is evidence of Gates’ dastardly plan to use a pandemic for his personal gain.

盖茨著名的2015年关于人类流行性疾病的演讲也成为了反疫苗者、右翼学者、阴谋论组织口中的证据，证明盖茨卑鄙地想通过全球大流行性疾病来获取个人利益。

Gates has long been an outspoken critic of President Trump. On Wednesday, he said Trump’s decision to defund WHO was “as dangerous as it sounds,” although he didn’t call out the president by name. Gates also criticized the administration in a recent op-ed, saying “There’s no question the United States missed the opportunity to get ahead of the novel coronavirus.”

盖茨一直以来都直言不讳地批评特朗普总统。他对这次政府的缓慢应对也多有批评之声。

Although Gates refused to comment on his new-found notoriety, Mark Suzman, chief executive of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, told the NYT that it was “distressing that there are people spreading misinformation when we should all be looking for ways to collaborate and save lives.”

盖茨对这波针对他的阴谋论拒绝置评，但盖茨梅琳达基金会的CEO Mark Suzman对此深表忧虑。