A screenshot shared on Facebook claims to show a tweet by Microsoft’s principal founder Bill Gates in support of the sacrifice of animals during the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha.
It reads: “I don’t want to see any tweet hating on Muslims for slaughtering animals, about 1 million animals killed each day by KFC, McDonalds, and Burger King Etc. to feed the rich [and] making hella money out of it. During Eid, Muslims sacrifice them to the poor for free [and] y’all lose your mind.”
Eid al-Adha is a religious holiday in which Muslims honour the readiness of the prophet Ibrahim – known as Abraham in the Judeo-Christian tradition – to obey God’s command to sacrifice his son. It means “festival of the sacrifice” and marks the end of the Hajj, or pilgrimage, to Mecca.
During Eid al-Adha, it is traditional for families to sacrifice an animal, usually a goat, sheep, or cow, and share the meat with neighbours and the poor.
In 2019 this celebration began on the evening of 11 August and ended on the evening of 12 August.
In the alleged tweet, “Bill Gates” is pointing out the hypocrisy of people who criticise Muslims for slaughtering animals during Eid al-Adha while fast-food chains make money from millions of animals slaughtered each day. (Disclosure: The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is one of Africa Check’s funders, providing 18% of our income in 2018.)
But did Bill Gates really tweet this? We checked.
AFP Fact Check found that the tweet was in fact by a Twitter user called @WolfieBabiee with the username Kurdistani.
Speaking on phone with news agency AFP, Kurdistani, who declined to share her real name, said that “she is a 20 year old business student from Iraqi Kurdistan”.
She also told AFP “she was not aware that the content had been shared as a Bill Gates quote, nor who might have done it”.
“I’m not sure what the point of sharing a fake Bill Gates tweet is,” she said.
On 14 August 2019, Twitter user Enver Baig shared the fake Bill Gates tweet, with Kurdustani’s words. Two days later, Kurdistani retweeted it, adding the comment “This is fake.” She also shared an article by the India-based site Alt News that found the tweet was not by Gates.
Africa Check looked at Gates’s official twitter account activity from 10 and 11 August 2019 and could not find the tweet.
We have reached out to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and will update this report should they respond. - Grace Gichuhi
It reads: “I don’t want to see any tweet hating on Muslims for slaughtering animals, about 1 million animals killed each day by KFC, McDonalds, and Burger King Etc. to feed the rich [and] making hella money out of it. During Eid, Muslims sacrifice them to the poor for free [and] y’all lose your mind.”
Eid al-Adha is a religious holiday in which Muslims honour the readiness of the prophet Ibrahim – known as Abraham in the Judeo-Christian tradition – to obey God’s command to sacrifice his son. It means “festival of the sacrifice” and marks the end of the Hajj, or pilgrimage, to Mecca.
During Eid al-Adha, it is traditional for families to sacrifice an animal, usually a goat, sheep, or cow, and share the meat with neighbours and the poor.
In 2019 this celebration began on the evening of 11 August and ended on the evening of 12 August.
In the alleged tweet, “Bill Gates” is pointing out the hypocrisy of people who criticise Muslims for slaughtering animals during Eid al-Adha while fast-food chains make money from millions of animals slaughtered each day. (Disclosure: The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is one of Africa Check’s funders, providing 18% of our income in 2018.)
But did Bill Gates really tweet this? We checked.
Original tweet not by Gates
AFP Fact Check found that the tweet was in fact by a Twitter user called @WolfieBabiee with the username Kurdistani.
Speaking on phone with news agency AFP, Kurdistani, who declined to share her real name, said that “she is a 20 year old business student from Iraqi Kurdistan”.
She also told AFP “she was not aware that the content had been shared as a Bill Gates quote, nor who might have done it”.
“I’m not sure what the point of sharing a fake Bill Gates tweet is,” she said.
Photoshopped screenshot
On 14 August 2019, Twitter user Enver Baig shared the fake Bill Gates tweet, with Kurdustani’s words. Two days later, Kurdistani retweeted it, adding the comment “This is fake.” She also shared an article by the India-based site Alt News that found the tweet was not by Gates.
Africa Check looked at Gates’s official twitter account activity from 10 and 11 August 2019 and could not find the tweet.
We have reached out to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and will update this report should they respond. - Grace Gichuhi
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