Bill Gates Is Not Attempting to Ban Meat
The Claim
Bill Gates is developing a law in Oregon which will ban the sale and consumption of meat.
News posted on
Emerging story
Throughout this month, a range of articles on conspiracy theory websites have been claiming that Bill Gates is attempting to ban meat via a new law in Oregon.
Specifically, the articles are attempting to tie a statement from Gates to a proposed Oregon ballot initiative, which the sites claim would ban the sale and consumption of meat in the state.
These claims have spread via social media.
Misbar’s Analysis
Our investigation has concluded that it is incorrect to claim that any new laws proposed in Oregon would ban the sale and consumption of meat, or that Bill Gates is behind them.
The alleged initiative, Initiative Petition 13, or IP13, does not ban the sale or consumption of meat. It is a real initiative, whose official title is the Abuse, Neglect, and Assault Exemption Modification and Improvement Act. It seeks to tighten the state’s current animal cruelty laws, extending them to those who are currently exempt, such as agriculture workers. This initiative is still a long way from becoming a law. It needs to gain 112,020 signatures to even qualify for a spot on the 2022 Oregon election. There is no guarantee that this ballot initiative will pass into law even if it does reach the ballot stage.
There are no clear links between IP13 and Bill Gates. Instead, IP13 is run by a Portland, Oregon based non-profit named End Animal Cruelty.
Bill Gates told Technology Review that he believes that rich countries should all switch to 100% synthetic beef. Just because Gates states this as his belief does not mean that any country will make this switch. Additionally, Gates is not saying that he thinks wealthy countries should switch to all synthetic meat, as he was only referring to beef.
