[ad_1]
The fictional allegations are repeated every day on YouTube and other platforms, reviewed hundreds of thousands of times, and receive many comments in support of this theory. The whole story was appreciated and repeated as a serious event by the Chinese Communist Party press. Although Maatje Benassi and her husband have never been diagnosed with coronavirus and have never experienced any symptoms of this infection, they are now regularly discussed on Chinese social media, the speech is encouraged and known by these networks. influencers and his followers
The accusations turned family life upside down. The couple say their home address was made public online, they had to delete their questionnaires on social media when their mailboxes began to explode from the admitted letters in conspiracy theories.
“It is like waking up from a bad dream and realizing that you are a nightmare every day,” Maatje Benassi told CNN after speaking for the first time after being the victim of unsubstantiated allegations.
As the coronavirus began to spread worldwide, false information about the disease began to spread. The tech giants talk about the steps taken to combat disinformation, but these efforts clearly were not enough to protect the Benassi family. The suffering of this family clearly demonstrates how social media has become a great platform where false knowledge spreads easily and gains more and more power. It’s also a great example of how misleading information spread in the virtual world, no matter how crazy and blatantly it seems, can have tangible and lasting consequences in real life.
It is like waking up from a bad dream and realizing that you are in a nightmare every day.
Maatje and her husband Matt work in public works. Maatje is a civilian from the Fort Belvoir base of the US Army. USA In Virginia, where he works as a senior security guard. Matt is a retired Air Force (LTO) officer who is now a civilian in the LTO structure of the Pentagon.
While working for the US government. In the USA, the couple feel the same helplessness and helplessness as others who face harassment and the spread of misleading information about them. “I want them to stop harassing me, it’s already out of control,” said Maatje, trying to control the tears.
Matt tried to get YouTube to delete the videos and prevent them from being distributed in the future. The couple contacted a lawyer, but he told them that there were not many opportunities to do anything. The local police said the same thing.
Origins of the coronavirus conspiracy theory
Conspiracy theories remind viruses of how they evolve, mutate, spread, and survive. Before Maatje Benassi became the main protagonist of this theory, the online versions had been wandering for months.
In the first weeks of the coronavirus epidemic, conspiracy theorists began to assert, without any evidence, that the virus was a biological weapon in the United States. Later, a member of the Chinese government began to publicly consider that it was the US military that transported the virus to China. United States Secretary of Defense Mark Esper responded to the words saying that making such accusations on behalf of the Chinese government was “completely absurd and irresponsible.”
Although hundreds of athletes from the US Army. USA They competed in Wuhan, it was Maatje Benassi who chose the conspirators and gave them a central role in his theory.
Only in March, a few months after the first cases of coronavirus infection in China, the attention of the creators of conspiracy theories turned to Maatje Benassi. The authors of the conspiracy note that the woman participated in the World Military Games in Wuhan, China in October last year, which later became the focus of the coronavirus pandemic.
Maatje Benassi competed in a bicycle race and suffered an injury on the last lap, with a broken rib and a concussion. Despite the collapse, Maatje still finished the race. Although hundreds of athletes from the US Army. USA They competed in Wuhan, it was Maatje Benassi who chose the conspirators and gave them a central role in his theory.
The idea that Maatje Benassi was involved in an alleged conspiracy to infect the world is probably most actively promoted by George Webb, 59, a notorious disseminator of false information. Webb has been broadcasting live on YouTube for many years and has raised nearly 100,000 people. A platoon of followers. Her videos and broadcasts have been viewed by over 27 million people. together.
In 2017, CNN discovered that Webb was one of three people to spread a false rumor about a cargo ship allegedly carrying a “dirty bomb” to the Charleston port in South Carolina. No one detected a bomb, but this story forced the temporary closure of one of the largest ports in the United States for security reasons.
Until recently, as Webb himself said, his videos were broadcast on YouTube. This means that both the Google and Webb platforms personally made money from fake news.
VIDEO: She is the target of a coronavirus conspiracy theory. Now he is afraid for his life.
Webb even claimed that Italian DJ Benny Benassi, whose song “Satisfaction” became world famous in 2002, was infected with the coronavirus and, along with Maatje and Matthew Benassi, participated in a joint conspiracy to spread the virus. Benny Benassi told a CNN journalist that he had never met Maatje and Matto and that he was unaware of the possible relationship between them. The DJ also explained that the last name Benassi is very common in Italy.
Benny Benassi also stated that he had never been diagnosed with a coronavirus. Like other artists around the world, he suspended his concerts due to social distance requirements and travel bans. Webb also claimed that the DJ is Dutch, which is also not true.
Photo by Scanpix / Benny Benassi
In a phone conversation with CNN, which broadcast live to his YouTube followers, Webb did not provide any evidence to corroborate his allegations against Benassi’s family. He also declared himself not a creator of conspiracy theories but an “investigative reporter”.
He also complained that YouTube had stopped showing ads on his videos when he started talking about the coronavirus. Webb revealed that he generally earned a few hundred dollars each month from visits to YouTube ads.
YouTube has confirmed to CNN that no ads are currently showing on G. Webbo’s channel, but has declined to say whether the ads were shown in the past and how much money the channel’s author earned. A YouTube spokesperson said the company aims to provide viewers with accurate information about the coronavirus. YouTube removed some threatening comments against the Benassi family after CNN reported on Webbo’s videos. A YouTube spokesperson also said there have been cases in the past where multiple Webbo videos had to be removed.
False online theories make life in the real world difficult
Although the accusations made against the Benassi family are absurd, the threats they receive and the fear they feel are very real.
Matt Benassi says he fears that everything could evolve into another Pizzagate story, citing another conspiracy theory that claims to have a pedophile network in which Hillary Clinton, among others, is involved in some way and whose center is located in a pizza parlor in Washington. The story, which only wandered between the margins of conspiracy theories, didn’t get much attention until it was overrun in 2016 by a gunman who fired multiple shots at the ceiling and stated that he had come to investigate the Pizzagate story.
Matt Benassi says he fears that everything could evolve into another Pizzagate story.
“It is really difficult to hold him accountable,” Matt Benassi said of Webb. – The police say that they cannot do anything, because in this country we have freedom of expression. Then they offer to go see a lawyer. We did it. We speak to an attorney. And then it turns out that it’s too expensive for people like us to take legal action. We received no support from the police. We are not receiving any support from the courts. “
Matt Benassi says he also complained to YouTube. However, even if YouTube decides to delete your videos, the process can take several days. During that time, the video can become very popular and the damage it will cause will no longer be repaired. Worse still, when YouTube deletes videos, they are often reloaded.
In China, YouTube videos accusing the Benassi family have been translated into Chinese and generated on the country’s popular platforms, WeChat, Weibo and Xigua Video.
Benassi’s family experience, unfortunately, is not unique, says Danielle Citron, a professor at Boston University School of Law who studies bullying online. When faced with “cyber gangs,” Citron said, law enforcement officials are often unable or unwilling to investigate their actions.
As for YouTube and similar platforms, Citron said the law should change: “They now have legal immunity under federal law. So no one threatens them. “
Whatever happens in the future, “the damage has already been done,” says Maatje Benassi. “It just caught our eye then. Every time I enter my name in Google search, zero patient results will appear.”
[ad_2]
