A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts:
Elon Musk and others spread meme reviving unfounded ‘pizzagate’ conspiracy theory
CLAIM: An expert who debunked the “pizzagate” conspiracy theory has been jailed for possessing child sexual abuse images.
THE FACTS: A former ABC reporter referenced in a meme circulating online was recently sentenced to federal prison for such crimes, but he never investigated “pizzagate.” The long-dormant conspiracy theory – which posited that Democratic Party insiders harbored child sex slaves in a Washington, D.C. pizza parlor — has been revived online in recent days, boosted by prominent social media users including Elon Musk. The unfounded rumor was popular among supporters of Republican Donald Trump during his winning 2016 campaign for president and even led a North Carolina man to travel to Washington and fire a rifle in a local pizza parlor where he believed children were being enslaved. Musk and others shared a meme referencing the television series “The Office,” claiming the conspiracy theory is “real,” involved “trafficked children” and that an expert who had debunked the theory “just went to jail for child porn.” In a follow up post on his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, the tech billionaire linked to a story about the September sentencing of former ABC journalist James Gordon Meek for possessing and transporting child sexual abuse images, implying the Virginia resident is the expert referenced in the meme. Musk’s posts have since been deleted. But the false connection stems from an image of a fabricated New York Post headline that spread online in recent months. “Award winning ABC journalist who ‘debunked’ pizzagate, pleads guilty in horrific child porn case,” the headline reads…
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