CLAIM: A “Bill Gates factory that produces lab-grown synthetic meat” burned down in the Netherlands.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. While a distribution center operated by a Dutch online grocery service was destroyed in a fire in the eastern Netherlands, the facility was not a factory that produced meat alternatives, nor was it owned or operated by Gates. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Trust invested in the e-grocer in 2021, but the trust is not a controlling shareholder.
THE FACTS: As video spread widely online Monday of flames engulfing the building operated by the e-grocery company Picnic, false claims began to circulate misrepresenting the use of the facility and its connection to billionaire philanthropist Gates.
“Bill Gates factory that produces lab-grown synthetic meat burns down in the Netherlands,” read the caption on one video of the blaze that was posted to Facebook and viewed more than 12,000 times.
A similar false claim was repeated on Twitter, where one user shared a video of another angle of the fire, writing, “Bill Gates factory that makes synthetic lab grown meat goes up in flames.” The post received more than 7,000 shares and nearly 20,000 likes by Tuesday.
But both posts mischaracterize Gates’ relationship to the company and misidentify what the building was used for.
The facility that burned down on Sunday night was a distribution center operated by Picnic, a Dutch online grocery service founded in 2015 that allows users to order groceries using a...
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