Stephen Hawking’s statement on the dangers of genetically modified viruses was presented as a warning against viruses used in vaccines.
Based on a reader’s report, we analyzed an article published on the media outlet called Globalno in 2016, which claims that Stephen Hawking stated that “mutated viruses from vaccines can destroy humanity”. The original source in our language is the Webtribune website, which also published the article in 2016.
STEVEN HAWKING SHOCKED THE WORLD: Mutant viruses in vaccines are a threat, they can destroy humanity
Although it could be concluded from the title, as well as the introductory sentence, that Hawking was talking about vaccines, the rest of the article and the original quote reveal that this is not the case.
Stephen Hawking told reporters that he believes that vaccination is a threat to the existence of humanity in the near future.
Speaking to the Radio Times before his lecture on the BBC, Professor Hawking said: “We are facing a series of threats: nuclear war, global warming and genetically modified viruses”.
While Professor Hawking did tell the BBC what was labeled as a quote in a Webtribune article, vaccines were not the subject of the story. Although Hawking did not talk about vaccines, the article draws a series of conclusions based on that one sentence that mentions “genetically modified viruses”.
The fact that genetically modified viruses are ranked among probabilities like nuclear war, by one of the brightest individuals in the world, should be very alarming. The term “genetically modified viruses” covers various things. In addition to the possibility of transforming some of the heaviest viruses in history into weapons of mass destruction, there is also a growing presence of genetically modified strains of the viruses in vaccines. They can also be a cause for concern.
Although the article itself mentions that the term “genetically modified” viruses covers a number of different things, the author decided to deal with only one of them – vaccines.
The article published on the Webtribune with the title statement was copied from the News Punch. However, the content of the article originated from the Neturalnews, known for spreading science and health misinformation. Meanwhile, the title of this article had a questionable form: “Did Hawking admit that vaccines are a threat to humanity?”
News Guard, the monitoring service that assesses the credibility of the media, rated both websites (News Punch and Neturalnews) as media outlets that often publish fake news and that grossly violate the standards of the journalistic profession.
Due to the fact that the credible statement was used to create narratives about the harmfulness of vaccines, the article as well as other appearances of the claim are rated as manipulation of facts.
Due to the statement from the title suggesting that “mutated viruses in vaccines are a threat and can destroy humanity”, and which was unjustifiably attributed to Professor Hawking, we rate the article as fake news.
(Author: Biljana Livančić-Milić, Raskrinkavanje.ba)
