Quick Facts
- The online legend method comes from the website Real Raw News, which calls itself a "satirical parody", the narrative is very detailed and seemingly real, there is no obvious trace of irony, but a large number of reports on the website have been proven to be fake news. NewsGuard, an information credibility rating agency, believes the site is keen on creating scams.
Event background
A message circulated on Chinese and foreign social networks: "US special forces arrested Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, a new crown vaccine manufacturer." Twitter users said that the reporter of the statement was Michael Baxter.
Weibo netizens commented: "It seems that there is a serious problem with the Moderna vaccine. Screenshots show that the message came from the Japanese website Abema.
Mincha
Moderna vaccine CEO arrested?
Abema is a Japanese social networking site that allows users to upload and share information on their own. After verification, the online news came from a blog shared by Abema netizens, citing a report by the US website Real Raw News on November 7, the original author is Michael Baxter.
The report claims that on October 30, U.S. special forces arrested Stéphane Bancel on charges of 'murder' in suburban Washington. "Our anonymous source said, 'We can't charge him with treason because he is not a U.S. citizen.'" But we can charge him with multiple murders based on the number of people killed by his vaccine. The article details the so-called "capture process," such as "Special forces followed Bancel as he pulled out of the parking lot and galloped toward an unknown location." The luxury car ran less than a mile before it was intercepted, and two SUVs successfully blocked Bacel's car. It took less than two minutes for special forces to pull Bancel off the luxury car and make an arrest, while Bancel's driver was released after receiving a stern secrecy warning. The article also noted that Stéphane Bancel will face interrogation by special forces next.
Screenshot of the original text of Real Raw News
However, there are currently no official announcements and authoritative sources reporting this news. In addition, on November 2, Moderna tweeted, "Today, our CEO, Stéphane Bancel, inaugurated our Enterprise Solutions Center in Warsaw (Poland). On November 3, Moderna released its third-quarter 2022 results, and Reuters also quoted Stéphane Bancel's response to the report's production challenges. The information, which appeared publicly in Stéphane Bancel shortly after October 30, undermined the credibility of the online legend law.
Moderna's Twitter account said Stéphane Bancel attended an unveiling ceremony in Warsaw on Nov. 2
On the other hand, the Real Raw News report was clearly erroneous, repeatedly emphasizing that U.S. special forces and the Marine Corps collaborated in the arrest, but that under 10 U.S.C. Chapter 18, "military personnel shall not engage in searches, seizures, arrests, or similar activities unless otherwise authorized by law." "Although the Code provides for special circumstances (nuclear material, insurgency, etc.), what is described in this report clearly does not fall under the special category. The U.S. Posse Comitatus Act, which also restricts U.S. military interference in homeland security, initially prohibiting "the wilful use of any part of the Army or Air Force to enforce laws unless expressly authorized by the Constitution or an act of Congress," was expanded to include the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Space Force in 2021.
Screenshot of the relevant provisions of the United States Code
Is the Real Raw News website credible?
The Real Raw News website contains a lot of false information. In April this year, "The Paper Mincha" published an article about the website to spread rumors: "Mincha| Fauci arrested by special armed forces? , citing a September 2021 investigation of Real Raw News by fact-checking agency Politifact, noted that the site's founder, Michael Baxter, operated at least three other websites and related YouTube channels before founding Real Raw News, all of which were suspected of promoting conspiracy theories about government agencies and aliens.
Real Raw News said in its disclaimer that the site contained satirical and parody content, and Michael Baxter has repeatedly defended the authenticity of his articles and the credibility of unnamed sources, claiming that "we do not do fake news." But many of the site's "captured" and "dead" articles have been self-defeating with the appearance of the protagonist, such as Michael Baxter's fictional serial report describing the court-martial trial for Hillary Clinton in stages.
Since its launch in 2020, Real Raw News has garnered a lot of hits for its sensational fictional reports and has also attracted the attention of some fact-checking agencies. However, according to the data provided by BuzzSumo, a professional content analysis and research tool, the social media participation of Real Raw News in 2022 is still high, and the article about Stéphane Bancel's arrest has been retweeted by about 1400 as of press time.
Screenshot of BuzzSumo analysis data
NewsGuard, an information website credibility rating agency, has also launched a special investigation into Real Raw News for its adverse effects. NewsGuard contacted the site's PayPal account-linked email and received an email with the username "Twisted Truth" replying, "This satirical site is meant to expose the madness of fanatical Trumpists who generally lack the mental strength to distinguish between fact and fiction." And John Gregory, a senior analyst at NewsGuard, said, "If it's easy to believe that these things are happening, then the headlines on their websites will look a lot like direct news stories." Of all the sites John Gregory helped review, Real Raw News "was the first to be so focused on creating scams."
NewsGuard rated Real Raw News with just 20 points of credibility
To sum up, the news that "Stéphane Bancel, CEO of the American Moderna Vaccine Company, was arrested by special forces on October 30" is not true. Stéphane Bancel was publicly present at the opening of Moderna on November 2. There is no authoritative source to support the Internet legend law. The online legend method comes from the website Real Raw News, which calls itself "satirical parody", the narrative of the website is very detailed and seemingly real, there are no obvious traces of irony, and a large number of reports on the website have been proved to be fake news. Credibility rating agency NewsGuard believes the site is keen on creating scams.