Covid-era conspiracy theories accuse Bill Gates of 'creating' hantavirus outbreak


Issued on: 12/05/2026 - FRANCE24

05:36 min From the show

As the number of confirmed hantavirus cases from the Dutch-flagged cruise ship MV Hondius reaches nine, social media users have firmly revived Covid-19-era conspiracy theories of "bioweapons" and "plandemics", making the online rhetoric feel eerily familiar. Among these resurrected theories, the name of American billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates has once again emerged.

Similar to viral posts in 2020, internet users have shared unfounded claims that an episode of The Simpsons "predicted" the hantavirus outbreak years ago, or claimed hantavirus was mentioned in the Epstein files.

In the same vein, old comments from Bill Gates have resurfaced and are being heavily shared. In a clip from his 2025 interview on ABC's "The View", Gates warned that future pandemics could be worse than the coronavirus, saying: "It won't be the last pandemic. The next one could be far more severe."

The reemergence of this video triggered viral posts claiming it "proved" Gates was "planning" a pandemic, or that as a top contributor to the World Health Organization via his foundation, he's benefiting from a potential pandemic by exploiting health crises, as he tries to make money from mass vaccination.

Not only is Gates far from the only voice who's warned of vigilance towards new outbreaks, the WHO has remained firm in its assessment that hantavirus is unlikely to become a pandemic at all.

The Gates conspiracy theories have been unfounded for six years, and remain so, but it's no surprise to see his name return to the eye of the storm as coronavirus conspiracy theories are rehashed.

Vedika BAHL  explains in Truth or Fake.

'Plandemic, Covid 2.0': Fact-checking viral conspiracy theories about hantavirus


Issued on: 11/05/2026 - FRANCE24

05:07 min From the show


As the world saw with Covid-19, the only thing that spreads faster than a virus is misinformation, and hantavirus is no exception. Despite only a few confirmed cases, conspiracy theories have swirled on social media, falsely claiming hantavirus is a planned pandemic, or a ploy to disrupt the US midterm elections. Others allege it's a "bioweapon" created by big pharma to "poison" people or even that it's a side effect of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine.

Many Covid-era conspiracy theories have been revived since the outbreak of hantavirus on a cruise ship, likely amplified due to the anti-vaxx movement and fears about a new global pandemic.

As with the coronavirus, theorists allege hantavirus is a planned pandemic – or "plandemic" – created by Big Pharma and vaccine manufacturers; a "biological weapon" created in a laboratory to push vaccines onto the masses.

Known conspiracy theorists Alex Jones and Marjorie Taylor Greene (who was notorious for sharing false narratives during the Covid-19 pandemic) amplified these claims on their platforms, with Greene also sharing fake news that anti-parasitic drug Ivermectin could be used to cure hantavirus as it "blocks RNA viruses from entering the nucleus, preventing replication".

In reality, there's no research that Ivermectin could be used as a treatment, and hantavirus replicates in the cytoplasm, not the nucleus, rendering Ivermectin useless against its replication.

Global public health guidance also does not predict that a pandemic due to the hantavirus is likely. As Maria Van Kerkhove, Director of Epidemic and Pandemic Management at the World Health Organization recently said at a briefing: "This is not Covid, this is not the start of a Covid pandemic. This is not the same situation we were in six years ago. It doesn't spread the same way."

Internet users also falsely claimed that hantavirus is a "planned side effect" of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, sharing a Pfizer document that references "hantavirus pulmonary infection" as part of a list of adverse events of special interest. This document in fact lists health conditions that scientists monitor during vaccine trials, not side effects.

Vedika Bahl fact-checks the viral conspiracy theories in Truth or Fake.

Trump shares fake quotes, falsely accuses Obama of treason in late-night rant


Issued on: 13/05/2026 - FRANCE24

05:18 min From the show

In a late-night social media blitz before his high-stakes China visit, US President Donald Trump unleashed a string of debunked conspiracy theories, AI-generated images and attacks on his political rivals. Posting 55 times in a span of three hours, Trump tore into former president Barack Obama, accusing him – without evidence – of treason and espionage during Trump's 2016 election campaign. He also revived falsehoods that the election was "stolen" from him in 2020, and attacked The New York Times.

In his frenzy, Trump reposted comments that Obama should be "arrested" and "prosecuted" for allegedly wiretapping Trump Tower during the 2016 presidential campaign. This is despite zero evidence that anyone – let alone Obama himself – wiretapped Trump Tower at the time, and a 2017 court filing from the Justice Department also affirming it had found no basis to support the claims.

Trump also shared a quote attacking Obama that never existed, claiming Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana demanded Obama "return $120 million that he allegedly earned through ownership related to Obamacare". Kennedy himself told digital outlet NOTUS he'd heard of the claims online, but that he "didn't say that. I don't know the basis of it".

Trump also revived conspiracy theories about his defeat in the 2020 presidential election, claiming "2.7 million Trump votes nationwide" had been deleted due to Dominion voting technology, including "over 1 million Pennsylvania votes switched from President Trump to Biden." This is false information with no factual basis, but one that the US president continues to rehash.

The New York Times was also blasted for its coverage of Trump's project for the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. In a 400-word rant, the US leader said the paper was "failing" and "losing subscribers on an hourly basis", after the paper pointed out that Trump's project was significantly more expensive than the $1.8 million price tag originally attributed. Trump did not actually dispute the figures given by the NYT, and the outlet is in fact gaining readership, not losing it, reporting last week that it had surpassed 13 million subscribers.

Vedika BAHL goes through Trump's tirade in Truth or Fake.

 Thousands march in London for far-right, pro-Palestine protests

Police are patrolling the streets of London as thousands of protesters march in the UK capital on Saturday for two major demonstrations, the annual march to commemorate the Palestinian Nakba and a rally staged by British far-right activist Tommy Robinson.


Issued on: 16/05/2026 -
By: FRANCE 24 

Police forces stand in front of the far right Unite the Kingdom march in London on May 16, 2026. © Kirsty Wigglesworth, AP

Thousands of people began rallying in London Saturday at a march organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson and a counter-demonstration fused with a pro-Palestinian protest, amid a huge police presence.

London's Metropolitan Police said ahead of the duelling events that it would mount one of its largest operations in recent years, as the British capital also hosts the FA Cup Final.

The force was set to deploy 4,000 officers – alongside horses, dogs, drones and helicopters – to manage Robinson's so-called "Unite the Kingdom" march and the rival rally marking Nakba Day.

That commemorates the 1948 displacement of Palestinians during the creation of Israel. It will combine with an anti-fascism march organised by the Stand Up to Racism group.


UK: Far-right rally meets pro-palestine counter-protest in London

© France 24
04:10

The Met police estimated 30,000 people would attend that event, setting off from west London, while 50,000 would be at the "Unite the Kingdom" march starting from Holborn in the heart of the capital.

Natasha, 44, was among those who had travelled in for Robinson's rally, wearing a bucket hat in the colours of Britain's Union Jack and draped in the flag.

"It's nice to be around my own culture," she told AFP near its start-point, calling the event "patriotic" and insisting "there's nothing racist about it".

Union Jack-wielding Justin, 56, from Essex, who declined to give his last name, echoed the sentiment. He said attendees were protesting "a whole load of stuff".

"Obviously immigration is a big part of it," he noted.

'Christian values'

Across London, Simon Ralls, 62, from Nottingham in central England, had turned out for the combined pro-Palestine and Stand Up to Racism event.

"The right (wing) are emboldened – we're here to try and counter that, make sure people aren't ignorant," he told AFP ahead of marching into the city centre.

Robinson – whose real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – is a former football hooligan turned anti-Islam activist whose profile has soared in recent years, in particular online.

Last September, he drew up to 150,000 people into central London for a similarly themed rally proclaiming "national unity, free speech and Christian values" – an unprecedented turnout for an event organised by a far-right figure.

He has tapped into growing public anger over tens of thousands of migrants crossing the English Channel each year in small boats, wider immigration policies, alleged free speech curbs and other issues.

X owner Elon Musk addressed that gathering via video-link. The rally shocked mainstream Britain for its scale and raw messaging, as well as clashes between some participants and police which injured dozens of officers.

The Met has imposed various conditions on Saturday's two rallies, over their routes and timings, in a bid to keep rival attendees apart.

The force, which estimates the operation will cost £4.5 million ($6 million), warned it would adopt "a zero-tolerance approach".

That includes for the first time making organisers legally responsible for ensuring invited speakers do not break hate speech laws.

Officers arrested two men Saturday morning arriving for the Robinson rally who were wanted on suspicion of grievous bodily harm following an incident in Birmingham, central England, when "a man was run over". No further details were provided.

'Hatred and division'

Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned Friday that "anyone who sets out to wreak havoc on our streets, to intimidate or threaten anyone ... can expect to face the full force of the law".

He accused the organisers of Robinson's rally of "peddling hatred and division".
'Violence, hooliganism, fraud: Far-right populist Nigel Farage regards Tommy Robinson as too fringe'

© France 24
08:06

Robinson has urged his attendees not to wear masks or drink excessive alcohol, and to be "peaceful and courteous".

Police have voiced fears about football hooligan groups which have previously supported Robinson showing up.

Meanwhile the FA Cup Final between Chelsea and Manchester City kicking off at 4 pm (1500 GMT) could strain the policing operation.

The Met has said live facial recognition would be used for the first time to police a protest.

Meanwhile, the government blocked 11 "foreign far-right agitators" from entering Britain for Robinson's rally.

They include US-based "extremist" Valentina Gomez, who the government said is "known for using inflammatory and dehumanising rhetoric about Muslim communities".

Saturday's rival demonstrations follow a spate of violent attacks targeting London's Jewish community, with some blaming instances of hate speech at pro-Palestinian marches for helping to fuel antisemitism.

The UK's terrorism threat level was raised two weeks ago to the second-highest level of "severe", with security officials citing the "broader Islamist and extreme right-wing terrorist threat".

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

MEP and far-right influencers barred from UK rally: Who are they and what was the reason?

Copyright AP Photo

By Estelle Nilsson-Julien

Published on 15/05/2026 - EURONEWS

The UK government barred seven indivdiuals from entering the UK, stating that their presence is "not conducive to the public good". But on what grounds and what does this decision mean in practice?

At least seven individuals — including multiple figures with ties to Europe's far-right — have been barred from attending a rally organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson in central London on 16 May.

A number of those barred by British authorities were set to address crowds at the "Unite the Kingdom" march, but the Home Office declined their electronic travel authorisation (ETA), a system brought in earlier in 2026 that, once granted, allows visa-exempt foreign nationals to visit the UK multiple times over a period of two years.

Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, said that they were banned because their presence in the UK is "not conducive to the public good".

Eva Vlaardingerbroek and Ada Lluch, influencers and commentators from the Netherlands and Spain, respectively, as well as Flemish MP Filip Dewinter and Polish MEP Dominik Tarczyński, shared news of their reported bans on social media, along with screenshots notifying them of the decisions.

The Metropolitan police has warned organisers of the rally that they will be held responsible if speakers spread hate speech during the event, which attracted more than 100,000 attendees last year and led to 25 arrests and two dozen injured officers.

According to the force, the 2026 event is set to mark "one of the busiest days for policing in London in recent years", coinciding with a demonstration in solidarity with the Palestinian Nakba Day and the FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium.

A heated response

Several US figures say they have also been denied entry to the UK, including commentator Joey Mannarino and MAGA influencer Valentina Gomez, who spoke at last year's rally.

While British Prime Minister Keir Starmer did not reveal the identity of the individuals who had been banned, he described them as "far-right agitators."

In a statement shared on 15 May, he stated that his government would not stand in the way of peaceful protest, but that it would "ban those coming into the UK" to stir up violence.

In another speech made on 11 May, he said, "We will not allow people to come to the UK, threaten our communities, and spread hate on our streets."

The decision to ban speakers from attending this year's edition has paved the way to online speculation and debate, with many arguing that the move is an affront to freedom of speech and an individual's right to criticise migration policies.

Taking to X, Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon and who has multiple criminal convictions, stated that the UK government was "banning Americans en masse" from entry to the country.

Robinson contrasted the ban with the fact that "thousands" of so-called "invaders" are "chaperoned in every week and put up in hotels!", making an inflammatory reference to immigrants and asylum seekers.

He has long been a critic of Starmer's immigration policy and has repeatedly spread false claims and conspiracy theories about migrants and Muslims in the UK.

Who are the banned individuals and what have they said?

Tarczyński, an MEP from the European Conservatives and Reformists Group, has vowed to "sue" Keir Starmer in response to his ban should the prime minister ever leave office.

"Not the government, not the Home Office, but Starmer personally", he said on X on 12 May.

Tarczyński is known for his staunch anti-immigration stance as well as controversial statements, including that Poland should not take in a single Muslim immigrant.

In 2019, he stated, "We don't want Poland being taken over by Muslims, Buddhists, or someone else…"

"For me, multicultural society, it’s not a value," he added. "Christian culture, Roman law, Greek philosophers, these are the virtues for us."

Ada Lluch is a 26-year-old Catalan activist and influencer, who has attracted controversy for nationalist and anti-immigration views, having previously made controversial statements about Spain being "better off" under Spanish dictator Francisco Franco in posts shared on X in 2024, as reported by El País.

Following the ban, Lluch wrote on X: "One of the reasons Keir Starmer said he banned us from entering the UK is because we don't bring solutions to the problems. I think the solution is obvious: WE WANT REMIGRATION. AND WE WANT IT NOW!"

"Remigration" is a slogan frequently employed by parts of Europe's far-right. Proponents say that it's a form of immigration control in response to rising migration levels, but critics, including human rights groups and legal experts, have described it as discriminatory and racist.

The US-based non-profit Global Project Against Hate and Extremism describes it as a "white supremacist policy concept" that calls for the mass forced removal of immigrants, refugees, and their descendants based on race, ethnicity, culture, being perceived as "non-white," or a failure to "assimilate".

The concept has been linked by researchers to the far-right "Great Replacement" theory, which suggests that Western civilisation is threatened with an irreversible decline, due to falling birth rates and an influx of migrants from the Middle East and North Africa.

Tommy Robinson speaks during the Unite the Kingdom march and rally, London, 13 September 2025 Joanna Chan/Copyright 2025 The AP. All rights reserved

Dutch political commentator Eva Vlaardingerbroek has previously declared: "They are demanding the sacrifice of our children on the altar of mass migration. Let's not beat about the bush — this is the rape, replacement and murder of our people … Remigration is possible, and it’s up to us to make it happen."

Vlaardingerbroek was first notified that her ETA had been withdrawn in January, days after she accused Starmer of allowing "the ongoing rape and killing of British girls by migrant rape gangs".

Flemish MP Filip Dewinter, who qualified Starmer's government as "communist", was embroiled in controversy in 2015, after he shared an X post which stated that the word "racist" was no longer an insult but had become a "title of honour."

Dewinter included the hashtag #ikbenracistendaarbenikfierop in the post, which translates as "I am a racist and proud of it" — before deleting it.

In her speech made at last year's event, 26-year-old Colombian-American influencer Valentina Gomez told the crowd that "rapist Muslims" were "taking over" the UK.

"England, they took your guns, they took your swords, and they raped your women," she said. "You have nothing else to lose, but there's still hope. You are still the majority. So you either fight for this nation or you let all of these rapist Muslims and corrupt politicians take over."

Gomez has repeatedly made anti-Muslim statements, sharing an X video depicting her burning a Quran in August 2025, stating, "your daughters will be raped, and your sons beheaded — unless we put an end to Islam once and for all."

Why have the far-right commentators been banned?

While the Home Office did not confirm why any of the individuals have been banned from the UK, we can look at the country's existing rules to see what kind of behaviour constitutes a refusal.

The UK government can refuse entry for a wide range of reasons, from past criminal convictions, visa violations or, as in this instance, due to their presence not being "conducive to the public good." This was the reason cited by Home Secretary Mahmood.

Contrary to online claims, refusing entry on these grounds is not exclusive to Starmer's current Labour government.

According to a research briefing published by the House of Commons library, past successive Conservative governments have predominantly used visa bans to bar extremists and "hate preachers" from entry, with a focus on Islamist figures accused of supporting terrorism or sectarian violence.

However, other kinds of individuals were also banned under the Conservatives. For instance, in 2013, the UK's then-home secretary, Theresa May, banned two US bloggers, Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, from entering the country, citing their stance against Islam.

Between May 2010 and December 2022, successive home secretaries under the Conservatives ordered the exclusion of 369 people from the UK, averaging approximately 30 cases per year, according to annual reports on the use of anti-terrorism powers.

Therefore, claims portraying the policy as unique to Starmer's Labour government — which came into power in July 2024 — are misleading, as such measures were already in place under previous Conservative prime ministers.

According to the "Counter-terrorism disruptive powers report", 15 individuals were excluded from the UK in 2024, because their presence in the UK was considered not conducive to the public good.

Across social media, those opposing the visa ban have claimed that freedom of speech is no longer protected in the UK.

However, UK law stipulates that freedom of speech is protected under Article 10 of the Human Rights Act 1998, which incorporates the European Convention on Human Rights. Nevertheless, it also explicitly allows governments to limit free speech to prevent crime or for national security matters.

The 1986 Public Order Act, amended by the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006, criminalises rhetoric which incites racial or religious hatred. This includes using "threatening" words or behaviour, or distributing material which intends to stir up religious hatred.

People demonstrate during the Tommy Robinson-led Unite the Kingdom march and rally, London, 13 September 2025 Joanna Chan/Copyright 2025 The AP. All rights reserved

Tommy Robinson, a divisive figure

While Robinson has taken to X to urge participants at the 2026 rally to engage in peaceful protest, he has previously faced repeated criticism for his rhetoric, notably using the term "invaders" to refer to asylum seekers

Separately, he has spread misinformation about migrant communities, for instance, sharing false claims about the perpetrator of the July 2024 Southport attacks.

He alleged that the attacker who killed three girls in a Taylor Swift-themed dance class was a Muslim asylum seeker who had just arrived in the UK on a small boat.

In reality, the 17-year-old perpetrator was born in Cardiff, Wales, to Rwandan parents and had no known connection to Islam. False claims about the suspect helped fuel mass rioting and marked the largest flare-up in violence in England since the 2011 riots.

At last year's edition of the rally, a video address by tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has also routinely amplified hardline criticism of Starmer's stance on immigration, was condemned by Downing Street, after he told the crowd "violence is coming" and "you either fight back or you die".

Successive British governments have repeatedly struggled to reduce net migration, but the tide appears to be turning: during Labour's first year in office, migration to the UK fell by more than two-thirds in the year ending June 2025 — the lowest annual figure since 2021, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The UK's 204,000 net migration figure sharply contrasts with the recorded peak of 944,000 in the year ending March 2023, under the previous Conservative government. This roughly 80% fall was mainly driven by fewer arrivals for work and study reasons, according to the ONS.

A 2025 study by the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford states that it's difficult to compare conviction and incarceration rates among British and non-British citizens because there are no reliable statistics on the size of the population.

However, the available statistics do reveal some trends. For example, young adults are more likely to commit crimes regardless of nationality; when controlled for age or sex, non-UK citizens are underrepresented in the prison population; and non-Brits are overrepresented among offenders for drug offences, but underrepresented for robbery or physical violence, according to the study.

IMF warns of ‘inevitable’ AI-powered threats to global financial system


ByAFP
May 7, 2026


Last month, AI company Anthropic warned that its latest model -- not yet available to the public -- was incredibly efficient at finding and exploiting software vulnerabilities - Copyright VATICAN MEDIA/AFP Handout

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned on Thursday of the risks to global financial stability posed by cyberattacks powered by advanced artificial intelligence tools, calling for greater international cooperation on the issue.

“IMF analysis suggests that extreme cyber-incident losses could trigger funding strains, raise solvency concerns, and disrupt broader markets,” the lender warned in a new report.

The study’s authors highlighted the risks posed by the highly interconnected nature of the global financial system, with advanced AI models able to “dramatically reduce” the time and cost of exploiting vulnerabilities.

The warning comes weeks after AI company Anthropic cautioned that its yet-to-be-released “Mythos” model was incredibly adept at finding and exploiting such weaknesses.

The model was particularly efficient at identifying vulnerabilities that developers and users had been previously unaware of.

In the hands of hackers, such so-called “zero-day” vulnerabilities are considered particularly dangerous.

On Wednesday, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told Fox News that an “all-government” and private sector effort was being made to test the model and ensure it does not cause harm to US businesses or government.

A day earlier, the US government announced a policy shift in which it would have access to tech giants’ new AI models to evaluate them before they are released.

The IMF warned that emerging and developing countries, “which often have more severe resource constraints, may be disproportionately exposed to attackers targeting regions with weaker defenses.”

The risks, the authors said, were systemic, cut across sectors and came with the threat of contagion, with the reliance on a small number of platforms and cloud providers likely to increase “the impact of any single exploited weakness.”

“Defenses will inevitably be breached, so resilience must also be a priority, specifically to limit how far incidents spread and ensure rapid recovery,” the report said.

IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva warned last month that the global financial system was not ready for the cybersecurity threats posed by AI.

“We are very keen to see more attention to the guardrails that are necessary to protect financial stability in a world of AI,” she told CBS News, seeking global collaboration on the issue.

AI use surges globally but rich-poor divide widens, Microsoft says


ByAFP
May 7, 2026


The AI adoption gap between wealthy and developing nations continues to widen - Copyright AFP Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV

Generative artificial intelligence is being used by 17.8 percent of the world’s working-age population, but the gap between wealthy and developing nations continues to widen, according to a report published Tuesday by Microsoft.

In the first quarter of 2026, 27.5 percent of people aged 15-64 in developed countries used a generative AI tool, compared with 15.4 percent in the developing world — a gap that widened by 1.5 percentage points from the second half of 2025, according to the report’s estimates.

The divide stems from significant inequality in access to internet connectivity, basic digital skills and electricity, according to the Microsoft AI Economy Institute.

AI model performance — historically stronger in English as most of the major AI companies are based in the US — is also slowing the spread of such tools in non-English-speaking countries.

But progress in processing non-European languages is fueling a catch-up in adoption in some countries, particularly in Asia, the US tech giant noted.

The United Arab Emirates tops the ranking of AI usage at 70.1 percent, followed by Singapore, Norway, Ireland and France.

The estimates were based primarily on measurements from computers running Windows and Microsoft products such as Bing and Copilot.

They only partially captured usage on Apple devices, and consolidated data was lacking for Russia, Iran and China.

The United States — home to dominant large AI models like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini — ranked only 21st, at 31.3 percent.

AI usage in China — the world’s second-largest economy which is jostling with the US for an edge in the AI race — was 16.4 percent, the report said.

Pushing back against fears of job losses driven by automation, Microsoft argued in the report that AI coding tools “could increase demand for developer jobs.”

The company cautioned, however, that “it is still too early to know the full impact” of AI on the labor market.

For the first time in its history, the company itself offered voluntary departures to nearly 9,000 of its US-based employees in April.

According to Layoffs.fyi, a private aggregator, nearly 99,000 people have been laid off in the tech sector since January 1, primarily in the United States.

AI disinfo tests South Korean laws ahead of local elections


ByAFP
May 6, 2026


South Korea has hired hundreds of staff to track and counter manipulated content ahead of local elections - Copyright AFP Jung Yeon-je

Hawon Jung

In an airy office in South Korea, workers comb through social media, uncovering AI-generated content whose growing sophistication is testing toughened election laws ahead of local polls.

Experts warn that cheaper, more advanced artificial intelligence models are driving the global spread of online disinformation — a major concern in South Korea, which has adopted AI particularly rapidly.

The government strengthened the law in 2023 to counter the misuse of AI around elections, and has hired hundreds of staff to track and counter manipulated content ahead of local ballots on June 3.

But some say they feel like they are fighting an uphill battle.

“We can literally see how fast this technology evolves — like how each new version of AI makes videos and audio look and sound even more convincing,” disinformation monitor Choi Ji-hee said.

“Our job keeps getting harder and harder,” she told AFP at the National Election Commission (NEC) headquarters in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul.

On a recent workday, Choi and 18 colleagues clicked through Instagram, YouTube and other platforms, as well as online chatrooms and “fan clubs” for local politicians, in search of content concocted by AI.

Recent finds include a fake TV news report claiming a mayoral candidate had made Time magazine’s list of rising political leaders, and a slick, AI-produced K-pop song praising a politician while mocking his rivals.

Once authorities confirm the content is the work of AI, authorities can demand its removal and issue harsh punishments, including jail time in extreme cases.

In one corner, workers discussed how to dissect a suspicious video, mulling whether to separately extract its audio, key frames, facial images and background footage.

Nearby, data analyst Kim Ma-ru mapped where, when, and by whom fake materials had been distributed, helping Choi’s team detect dubious content more quickly.



– ‘Whack-a-mole’ –



The local polls are the third major ballot in South Korea since an amended law to combat AI-fuelled election falsehoods was passed in 2023.

More than 45 percent of South Koreans use generative AI, according to government figures. ChatGPT maker OpenAI says the country has the most paid subscribers outside the United States.

At the same time, South Koreans consume more low-quality generative content — “AI slop” — than any other country, and reports of false AI-created content rose 27-fold between the general election in 2024 and the presidential campaign the following year.

“It’s an exhausting job that can feel like a (game of) whack-a-mole,” Kim told AFP.

“But it’s important work — there’s a sense of civic duty in it.”

AFP has debunked AI-generated election disinformation in South Korea, including a video of the 2025 presidential frontrunner Lee Jae Myung — now the country’s leader — purportedly faking a hunger strike.

Beyond fake content about candidates, conspiracy theories about vote-rigging in recent years have also dented public trust in elections.

Jailed ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol sent hundreds of armed troops to the NEC during his short-lived bid to impose martial law in late 2024, repeating widely disproven far-right claims of vote hacking.

On the street outside the office, pro-Yoon protesters have hung a banner reading: “Investigate the rigged elections immediately!”

Both Choi and Kim declined to be photographed or filmed, citing growing threats and online bullying targeting election workers.



– Strict laws –



“In such a short time, it has become so difficult for voters to tell what is real and what is not,” said Jung Hui-hun, a digital forensic specialist at the NEC’s cyber investigations unit, as he ran videos through state-developed software tools to detect AI imagery.

Officials say the programmes are about 92 percent accurate, with human experts reviewing the most sophisticated material.

Once confirmed, authorities demand that either the poster or the platform remove the content for violating the 2023 law, which bans AI material that involves candidates and looks realistic enough to confuse voters in the three months before a poll.

Repeat offenders, or those who create content deemed particularly harmful, can face up to seven years in jail or a maximum fine of 50 million won ($34,000).

“The rules may seem excessive to those outside South Korea, especially in places like the US that highly prioritise freedom of expression,” Kim Myuhng-joo, director of the Korea AI Safety Institute, told AFP.

But as swiftly as South Koreans embraced AI, many grew aware of its dangers, Kim said, citing the election conspiracy theories and a public scandal around deepfake pornography targeting women and girls.

“Public consensus has formed that we need tough regulations over the use of AI when it comes to election transparency,” Kim said.

A survey last year showed 75 percent of South Koreans believed AI-generated content could sway election results, and nearly 80 percent supported stronger efforts to detect and punish its use.

Jung, the digital forensic specialist, acknowledged the country’s response had “many limits” but voiced hope it would spur debate on how to tackle AI-fuelled disinformation.

“We’re still trying to figure out what is the best solution… but I think we are moving forward — slowly but surely,” he said.

Canada’s Cohere embraces ‘low drama’ amid AI giant tumult


ByAFP
May 15, 2026


Montreal-based Joelle Pineau joined Cohere last year after nearly eight years leading Meta's Fundamental AI Research lab - Copyright AFP ALAIN JOCARD

Alex PIGMAN

In an industry that runs on hype and grand gestures, Canadian AI firm Cohere is charting a different course from Silicon Valley. No talk of superintelligent machines, no public feuding, just one question: can it make money?

“Cohere is a very low drama company,” chief AI officer Joelle Pineau told AFP in a recent interview, noting that she counts many friends at OpenAI and Anthropic — and that Cohere is quite different.

The company was co-founded in Toronto in 2019 by Aidan Gomez, an AI researcher who co-authored a seminal paper that laid the foundations for modern AI systems, underscoring the central role of the Canadian AI research ecosystem in the field’s development.

Pineau, who joined Cohere last year after nearly eight years leading Meta’s Fundamental AI Research lab, said the company’s understated approach extends to one of the hottest buzzwords in the industry: artificial general intelligence, or AGI, the hypothetical point at which AI surpasses human intelligence.

“We don’t spend a lot of time talking about AGI,” Pineau said, dismissing the theorizing as a distraction.

Instead, she said, the company rallies around a decidedly less glamorous slogan — “ROI over AGI” — a reference to the return on investment that has yet to materialize across much of the cash-burning AI industry.

Pineau said the company’s focus on business clients shapes how the firm thinks about AI risk, cutting through what she described as fear-mongering around hypothetical scenarios.

“We’ve had a number of people who’ve gone around and essentially made people scared of AI as opposed to really understanding the real risks,” she said, arguing that time spent catastrophizing could be better spent addressing tangible safety challenges.

Those real risks, she said, include workforce disruption, data privacy and infrastructure security — concerns that Cohere’s enterprise customers in financial services, healthcare and government are actively grappling with.

“People are worried whether that’s going to impact their jobs, their ability to have a livelihood,” Pineau said. “These are completely legitimate questions.”

On the competitive threat from Chinese AI models, she pushed back against alarmist framing while acknowledging security considerations. The risk of malicious code injection through AI-generated software, she noted, is not unique to any one country.

“It’s not only the Chinese who can do this — any developer who decides that they want to do this” has mechanisms to do so, she said, adding that robust safety practices were good hygiene regardless of a model’s origin.

– ‘Spicy takes’ –

Pineau said Cohere was well-positioned to capitalize on demand from European and Asian markets wary of dependence on US technology platforms.

The company last month announced a deal to acquire German AI firm Aleph Alpha, creating a combined entity valued at around $20 billion with dual headquarters in Toronto and Berlin.

The deal, backed by both the Canadian and German governments, is designed to position Cohere as a sovereign alternative for businesses to American AI giants in the European market, as well as in Asia.

“Given the geopolitical context, some of them are afraid of just getting locked out of US tech solutions,” she said. “We are more than happy to offer an alternative.”

While Cohere will continue to call Toronto its global home, Pineau said the company’s ambitions stretch well beyond its borders. With offices in San Francisco, New York, London and Paris — and now a deepening presence in Germany — the goal is unambiguously international.

Still, she suggested the founders’ origins might leave a lasting imprint on the firm’s character.

“There may be some particular Canadian folklore that comes with it — some of the values of the co-founders that are going to permeate,” she said.

Asked whether leaning into splashier narratives — like rivals’ warnings of AI doom — might attract more investor attention and generate more publicity, Pineau suggested wryly that “maybe we’d get a lot more air time” by playing along.

“Maybe we’ll try some spicy takes once in a while,” she added.

For hantavirus, experts aim to inform without igniting Covid panic


ByAFP
May 13, 2026


Hantavirus: pour les experts, le défi d'informer sans réveiller la peur du Covid 

- Copyright AFP/File Joel Saget

Chloe Rabs and Isabelle Cortes

Thrust back into the front line by a deadly hantavirus outbreak, infectious disease experts have to balance informing the public about its potential risks without provoking undue fear of a Covid-scale pandemic.

The deaths of three cruise ship passengers during a rare hantavirus outbreak has sparked international alarm — and flashbacks to when the world tipped into a pandemic six years ago.

Among the living, seven people have been confirmed to have hantavirus, including a French woman in a critical condition, while an eighth case is considered “probable”, according to an AFP tally.

All the suspected infections have been among people who were onboard the ship, however several nations have quarantined those who were in contact with passengers.

The World Health Organization has said it expects more cases to emerge but emphasised there “is no sign that we are seeing the start of a larger outbreak”.

In a throw-back to the Covid era, the outbreak has put infectious disease specialists, virologists and epidemiologists back into the news.

When epidemiologist Antoine Flahault addressed a French governmental health conference alongside other health experts on Tuesday, he urged scientists, journalists and the general public to “be wary of preconceived notions”.

There are important lessons to be learnt from how the science of Covid was communicated, the professor at the Paris Cite University told AFP later.

“First, that we did not know everything. Second, that knowledge was evolving… and that there were very lively debates among scientists on aspects that sometimes surprised the public,” Flahault said.

Luc Ginot, who served as a regional public health director in France during the pandemic, said it was important doctors did not “disseminate just any information that might disrupt the coherence of the overall health response”.

– ‘Limited data’ –

Health experts — and the WHO — have been emphasising that hantavirus is not comparable to Covid, and that the risk to the wider public remains low.

Unlike Covid, the Andes strain of hantavirus is not new, and a few previous human-to-human transmission events have been studied.

However some experts have also called on health authorities not to overstate what is known about hantavirus while trying to tamp down pandemic fears.

“I’m not particularly worried there will be much onward spread of hantavirus,” Jennifer Nuzzo, a professor of epidemiology at Brown University in the United States, wrote on Bluesky.

“But I am concerned that authorities are making confident statements based on very limited data.”

Nuzzo felt “there’s too little data” to indicate whether infected people needed to be displaying symptoms — or be in “close, prolonged contact” — to transmit the virus to others.

Research into a 2018 outbreak in the Argentina region of Patagonia, where the Andes strain is endemic, found that most cases were transmitted on the first day an infected person had a fever.

However a few people were found to have caught the virus from a man sitting more than a metre away at a birthday party.

Caroline Semaille, director of Public Health France, also said it could not be ruled out that people transmit the virus “48 hours before the onset of symptoms”.

– Conspiracy theories return –

Flahault also urged caution about the time it takes between being infected with the Andes strain and symptoms showing, which is thought to be up to six weeks.

This is a “neglected tropical disease” and further research could reveal a longer or shorter incubation period, he said.

The fatality rate of the virus, commonly cited as around 40 percent, could also be quite different outside of rural areas of Argentina where there may be little health infrastructure, Flahault added.

For example, when patients with the similarly deadly Ebola are treated in Europe or the United States, “the fatality rate is zero,” he said.

There are no treatments or vaccines specifically targeted at hantavirus.

But that has not stopped conspiracy theories and disinformation about vaccines and hantavirus spreading widely online — another echo of the Covid era.

French infectious disease specialist Nathan Peiffer-Smadja said that “managing an outbreak is not about reassuring people and downplaying the situation… nor is it about predicting the next Covid”.

“It’s about providing transparent information,” he wrote on Bluesky.

Fabled Argentine city Ushuaia tries to shrug off virus suspicions


By AFP
May 12, 2026


Tourists take in the scenery in the remote southern Argentine port of Ushuaia, from where the hantavirus-struck MV Hondius set sail - Copyright AFP Cristian URRUTIA

Gabriel RAMONET

Argentina’s city “at the end of the world,” Ushuaia, the jump-off point for expeditions to the Antarctic, is laboring under suspicion of being the source of the deadly hantavirus outbreak that killed three cruise ship passengers.

The MV Hondius set sail from this spectacular Patagonian port, sandwiched between snow-capped mountains and the South Atlantic, on April 1.

Five days later, a Dutch man who had travelled through South America on a birdwatching trip with his wife, developed symptoms of hantavirus, a rodent-borne disease.

He, his wife and another of the ship’s passengers later died of the virus, which has revived bitter memories of the emergence of Covid-19, despite health experts downplaying similarities between the viruses.

The search for answers about the outbreak has pointed towards Ushuaia, even as authorities there insist the likelihood of the Dutch couple becoming infected during the 48 hours they spent in the city before their cruise is “almost zero.”

As winter draws near, the tourist season is winding down.

The last of around 500 cruise ships that dock here each year have disappeared from the horizon, replaced by small tour boats that ferry the few remaining tourists in the city to nearby sea lion and bird colonies.

“Everything seems normal to me, things seem fine,” Luis Cardona, a Colombian who was visiting with his wife, told AFP, shoulders hunched against the wind and rain.

But the couple are taking no chances all the same. Both are wearing face masks, “for the cold, and for the (hantavirus) situation,” Cardona admitted.



– ‘A bit worried’ –



“We have seen a few people wearing masks, but very few,” said Silvina Galarza, who was visiting from Concordia, 2,700 kilometers (1,677 miles) away in north-central Argentina.

As she disembarked with around 40 other tourists from a tour boat she assured that “nobody was talking about it (the virus) but admitted herself to being “a bit worried.”

Authorities in Tierra del Fuego province, where Ushuaia is situated in the southern tip of Argentina, are adamant that it could not be the birthplace of the outbreak as the dead Dutchman, patient zero in the outbreak, fell sick five days after setting sail.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the incubation period — the time between infection and the onset of symptoms — for hantavirus ranges from one and six weeks but is typically between two and three.

Local officials also note that Tierra del Fuego has had no recorded hantavirus case since 1996 and that the “colilargo” or long-tailed mouse that carries the Andes strain detected in the Dutch woman, as well as several surviving patients, is native to Argentina’s northern provinces.

Doubts remain however over a local subspecies of the rodent.

A team of Argentine experts are expected in Ushuaia in the coming days to capture and test specimens for the virus.



– Landfill theory –



A huge landfill situated about six kilometers outside of Ushuaia has been the focus of intense speculation.

Local media have reported that the Dutch couple may have visited the area to try to sight local bird species such as the white-throated caracara, a member of the falcon family.

The dump, which is partly open air, attracts large numbers of scavenger birds. It is sealed off by a wire fence but can be approached by a series of dirt paths.

While no known tours to the landfill exist, Juan Manuel Pavlov, the regional tourism chief, told AFP he had got wind of some agencies visiting the area, reportedly in search of rare birds.

Guillermo Deferrari, of Ushuaia’s scientific research center, downplayed the landfill theory, explaining that the colilargo is herbivore and lives off seeds and fruit found in forested ecosystems, not in dumps, where the common rat feeds.

And yet the suspicions stubbornly linger, causing frustration, and some concern, among tour operators.



– ‘Not good’ for tourism –



“It’s clearly not a good thing, for a destination, to be associated with the spread of a disease,” Angel Brisighelli, manager of a tourist boat company, said.

Despite authorities downplaying Tierra del Fuego’s potential role in the outbreak, “the reality is that everybody is talking about the boat that left from Ushuaia,” he remarked.

A light dusting of snow fell on the area on Monday, signalling the upcoming start of the ski season.

Luis Cardona, the Colombian visitor, has no plans to hit the slopes but assures that, virus or no virus, he would “have no problem returning” to Ushuaia.

Hantavirus outbreak renews painful memories for Patagonian village


ByAFP
May 11, 2026


An aerial view of Epuyen, Argentina, where a hantavirus outbreak caused 11 people to die over several months in 2018-2019 - Copyright AFP JUAN MABROMATA
Leila MACOR

Mailen Valle lost her father and two sisters during a hantavirus outbreak more than seven years ago in Epuyen, a village in Argentina’s Patagonia region.

With the recent hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship, hard memories have resurfaced for the 33-year-old.

“Losing my dad and my two sisters in less than a month…” she told AFP, trailing off.

Her voice broke and she laughed nervously, opting to read from a prepared statement because she knew it would be hard to speak.

“Nobody was prepared to see how, in a matter of days, a family table was left empty,” she said.

While the Hondius outbreak has left three people dead, it has yet to surpass the Epuyen outbreak, which recorded 34 cases and 11 fatalities between December 2018 and March 2019 in the town of 2,400 residents, situated in a part of the Andes where hantavirus is endemic.

Mailen’s father, Aldo Valle, came down with it after attending a birthday party.

“The person with the virus was just sitting at the same table as my dad. And at that table there were several people who got infected, and people died,” Mailen recalled.

The wake for Valle was another locus of infection, where all three of his daughters got sick.

One sister died “within hours” of showing symptoms, while for the other, “we had to take her to the cemetery without a wake,” Mailen said.



– Pre-Covid isolation –



The variant of the hantavirus suspected in both outbreaks is transmitted through the droppings, saliva and urine of the Andean mouse.

Jorge Diaz, an epidemiologist with Chubut province’s health department who worked on the Epuyen hantavirus outbreak, told AFP that “we knew very little about the disease” in 2018.

Human-to-human transmission of hantavirus was first discovered in 1996 in the neighboring town of El Bolson, and it was later found to have happened in Epuyen.

“We implemented quarantine, which required those who made contact with a positive case to isolate for 45 days,” Diaz explained.

About 100 people ended up undergoing the quarantine process in a display that would foreshadow the Covid-19 pandemic that broke out a year later.

The approach, dubbed “selective isolation,” marked a shift in the epidemiological response, and now “each time there is a case of (Andes) hantavirus, isolation is ordered or recommended.”



– ‘One thing after another’ –



Residents in Patagonia know how to protect themselves from the virus, which they refer to as “the hanta,” by airing out sheds and cleaning areas with bleach.

But the human transmission of the Epuyen outbreak changed the scale of the fight, as one could get infected from their neighbor just as easily as from an Andean mouse.

Mailen remembers the stigma. “We felt very discriminated against,” she said.

Others recall being banned from shops in nearby towns.

Isabel Diaz, 53, survived the outbreak with a different stigma — her father, Victor Diaz, was labeled “patient zero,” and attended the birthday party while displaying the early symptoms of hantavirus.

“People looked poorly at my father. It’s not his fault he got sick,” she told AFP, her eyes welling up.

“Nobody chooses to get sick, much less infect others, much less lose a mother.”

Isabel got sick from her father’s hantavirus case, as well as her mother. “She was the sixth patient” of the eleven who died, she said.

Her father, for his part, recalled how it felt to come down with hantavirus, causing body aches and a bitter taste that even made sipping water unpleasant.

“It started with a feeling of weakness. I didn’t feel like eating. And I started to get purple spots,” he said. “That same day, I lost consciousness.”

In the years since the hantavirus outbreak, Epuyen has endured the Covid-19 pandemic and major wildfires in 2025 and 2026, permanently changing the landscape.

“It’s one thing after another,” Victor said, laughing.

“No one is going to tell us what it means to live life and keep moving forward,” Isabel Diaz added.