Ghislaine Maxwell's federal sex trafficking trial has spawned a rash of misinformation on social media – including conspiracy theories about some of the country's top companies.
A Dec. 4 Facebook post includes a list of more than 20 CEOs that have purportedly stepped down during Maxwell's trial, which began Nov. 29 in New York.
"MORE TO COME!!!!" reads text in the post, which accumulate more than 4,000 shares in a week. "PAY ATTENTION PEOPLE!!!!!!!"
Among those who have purportedly stepped down: the chief executives of Disney, Amazon, Nissan and Walmart. Similar versions of the list have also racked up thousands of shares on Facebook.
"All of these people have stepped down since Gisele (sic) Maxwell’s trial has started...... but let’s just talk about Omicron," reads the caption of a Dec. 5 post.
Maxwell is accused of procuring underage girls for disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse. The duo has long served as the vehicle for conspiracy theories that allege some of the country's top celebrities and public officials are involved in sex trafficking.
Like those conspiracy claims, this Facebook post is baseless.
Only one company mentioned in the Facebook post, Twitter, had its chief executive step down since Maxwell's trial began. Spokespeople for most of the other companies told USA TODAY their CEOs are not stepping down. The list appears to stem in part from misleading social...
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