Le Vatican et le pape François, cibles des infox de la mouvance QAnon - Les dessous de l infox, la chronique rfi.fr - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from rfi.fr Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Origin
In January 2021, readers asked Snopes to examine the accuracy and authenticity of a widely-shared online post claiming that Italian police had arrested Pope Francis in the Vatican and charged him with child pornography, human trafficking, incest, fraud, and drug-related offenses.
On Jan. 10, Conservative Beaver, a website with a track record of publishing baseless conspiracy theories, posted an article with the headline: “VATICAN BLACKOUT: Pope Arrested on 80 Count Indictment for Child Trafficking, Fraud.”
The article reported that:
Pope Francis aka Jorge Mario Bergoglio was arrested Saturday in connection with an 80- count indictment of charges including possession of child pornography, human trafficking, incest, possession of drug paraphernalia and felony fraud.
By Reuters Staff
7 Min Read
An article circulating on social media allegedly reports that Pope Francis was “arrested” on Jan. 9. This report is false.
Reuters Fact Check. REUTERS
The article, visible here (archived version archive.vn/ivJVo ), was published on Jan. 10 by a site describing itself as a Canadian conservative news site ( here ), called The Conservative Beaver.
Some users commenting on the article appear to be referring to the conspiracy theory QAnon, which often allude to “a secret campaign” being waged by U.S. President Donald Trump against a sex trafficking ring that includes prominent Democrats, Hollywood elites and “deep state” allies ( here ). Comments include the QAnon slogan “WWG1WGA”, short for Where We Go One, We Go All ( here ).