AAP FACTCHECK – Bill Gates and the World Health Organization (WHO) are saying people who refuse to be vaccinated should be rounded up by the military and jabbed, social media posts claim.
This is false. Neither the founder of Microsoft nor the WHO have called for those who refuse vaccination to be “rounded up” and vaccinated.
Several Facebook posts have circulated the claim in the form of articles and videos, as a warning to unvaccinated people.
“Breaking: Bill Gates and WHO Call For Military To Round Up mRNA Vaccine Refusers During Bird Flu Pandemic,” many of the posts read.
“Bill Gates has joined forces with the World Health Organization in calling for vaccine refusers to be rounded up by the military and force-jabbed with mRNA during the next pandemic.
“Gates and the WHO have ordered governments to lay the groundwork to mobilize the military because they claim that vaccine skepticism is ‘morally reprehensible’ and vaccine refusal is an ‘act of aggression’ that must be met with force.”
Bird flu cases across Australia and the world have led to misinformation spreading on social media about the virus and the vaccine.
AAP FactCheck traced the origin of the social media posts to an article and video from The People’s Voice, a site AAP FactCheck has debunked several times.
The WHO has launched a new initiative to advance mRNA vaccine development against bird flu, but there is no evidence it has asked governments to punish those who refuse vaccines, as the article suggests.
The article appears to base the claim about Mr Gates on comments from Peter Hotez, a vaccine scientist who was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
It links to an article it claims is proof that Dr Hotez has “called for police forces and the military to be deployed” to force vaccinations.
However, in the linked article Dr Hotez called for scientists to be protected under hate crime laws.
Dr Hotez said scientists like him face “anti-science aggression” due to their pro-vaccine stance, leading him to call for stronger protection, possibly under hate-crime laws.
There is also no evidence Mr Gates made the remarks suggested in the article.
The article features a fake X, formerly Twitter, post by Mr Gates, reading, “Vaccine refuseniks will feel the full weight of the law”, which was never posted on the billionaire’s account.
The WHO called the claim a “flagrant lie and a dangerous piece of misinformation”.
A WHO spokesperson told AAP FactCheck it provides technical advice and support to member countries, but the power to make health decisions, such as those about vaccinations, rests with individual sovereign governments.
“It is a malicious falsehood and lie to claim that WHO has proposed any involvement of military as mentioned in these baseless allegations, nor does WHO have the ability to impose vaccination mandates.”
The Verdict
False – The claim is inaccurate.
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