Transcript
Maatje Benassi, a US Army reservist and mother of two, has been falsely accused by conspiracy theorists of being the first coronavirus patient and bringing the disease to China.
This is despite Benassi never having tested positive for the virus or experiencing symptoms.
The false claim was promoted by conspiracy theorist George Webb who has nearly 100,000 subscribers on YouTube.
Last October Maatje who is in the US Army Reserve competed in the Military World Games in Wuhan, China.
Webb claims without any evidence that Maatje brought the virus to China during a cycling competition.
The lives of Maatje and her husband Matt have been turned upside down since.
Chinese media has spread the conspiracy leading to their home address being posted online and even death threats.
And the false claims are spreading across YouTube every day, so far racking up hundreds of thousands of views.
A YouTube spokesperson told CNN the company is committed to promoting accurate information about the coronavirus and taking down misinformation when it’s flagged by users.
YouTube took down some.
Maatje says the experience has felt like “going into a nightmare day after day.”
Her husband shared in an interview that they’ve gone to law enforcement but because the threats have not been direct, there’s not a lot that can actually be done.
And that the legal process is just too expensive for the couple.
Posted – 4.27.20