Kubeniz
2020-04-20T13:29:06+00:00
[url]https://www.meipai.com/media/1201746888[/url]
就是军运会那位
美国人自己编的，受害人也是美国人，我们就看个乐就行啦[img]https://img.nga.178.com/attachments/mon_202004/27/-7Q5-ejmcK1mT3cSuk-h7.jpg.medium.jpg[/img]
就是军运会那位
美国人自己编的，受害人也是美国人，我们就看个乐就行啦
CNN原文 ...
Exclusive: She's been falsely accused of starting the coronavirus. Her life has been turned upside down
Maatje Benassi, a US Army reservist and mother of two, has become the target of conspiracy theorists who falsely place her at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, saying she brought the disease to China.
The false claims are spreading across YouTube every day, so far racking up hundreds of thousands of apparent views, and have been embraced by Chinese Communist Party media. Despite never having tested positive for the coronavirus or experienced symptoms, Benassi and her husband are now subjects of discussion on Chinese social media about the outbreak, including among accounts that are known drivers of large-scale coordinated activities by their followers.
The claims have turned their lives upside down. The couple say their home address has been posted online and that, before they shut down their accounts, their social media inboxes were overrun with messages from believers of the conspiracy.
"It's like waking up from a bad dream going into a nightmare day after day," Maatje Benassi told CNN Business in an exclusive interview, the first time she has spoken publicly since being smeared online.
As the coronavirus has spread around the world, so has misinformation about the disease. Technology giants have touted the steps they are taking to combat coronavirus misinformation, but these efforts have failed to help the Benassis. The family's suffering highlights the potential for blatant falsehoods to be rewarded and amplified by social media platforms. It also serves as a powerful reminder that misinformation online, however wild or obviously untrue it may seem, can have real and lasting consequences offline.
Maajte and her husband Matt are still active in their government jobs. Maajte is a civilian employee at the US Army's Fort Belvoir in Virginia where she works as a security officer. Matt, a retired Air Force officer, is a civilian employee with the Air Force at the Pentagon.
Despite working for the US government, the couple are experiencing the same feelings of helplessness familiar to others who have been the target of harassment and misinformation. "I want everybody to stop harassing me, because this is cyberbullying to me and it's gone way out of hand," Maajte said while fighting back tears.
Matt has tried to get the videos taken down from YouTube and to prevent their spread online. The couple said they contacted an attorney, who told them there was little that could be done, and local police, who told them much the same.
Origins of a coronavirus conspiracy theory
Conspiracy theories are not dissimilar to viruses, in that they evolve and mutate to spread and survive. Before Maatje Benassi became the main protagonist in this conspiracy, variations had circulated online for months.
In the early weeks of the coronavirus, conspiracy theorists began claiming, without evidence, that it was a US biological weapon. Later one member of the Chinese government publicly promoted the notion that the US military brought the virus to China. US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said it was "completely ridiculous and it's irresponsible" for someone speaking on behalf of the Chinese government to promote such a claim.
It wasn't until March, months after the first reported coronavirus cases in China, that conspiracy theorists turned their focus to Maatje Benassi. The baseless theory began with her participation in October in the Military World Games, essentially the military Olympics, which was hosted by Wuhan, the Chinese city where the coronavirus outbreak began last year.
Maatje Benassi competed in the cycling competition there, suffering an accident on the final lap that left her with a fractured rib and a concussion. Despite the crash, Benassi still finished the race, but it turned out to be the start of something worse. While hundreds of athletes from the US military took part in the games, Maatje Benassi was plucked out of the group and given a starring role in the conspiracy theory.
Perhaps the most prominent cheerleader of the idea that Benassi had a role in the imaginary plot to infect the world is George Webb, a prolific 59-year-old American misinformation peddler. Webb has for years regularly streamed hours of diatribe live on YouTube, where he has amassed more than 27 million views and almost 100,000 followers.
In 2017, CNN revealed how Webb was part of a trio of conspiracy theorists that pushed a false rumor about a cargo ship with a "dirty bomb" that was set to arrive at the Port of Charleston in South Carolina. The bomb never materialized, but the claims did lead to parts of the port -- one of the biggest in America -- being shut down for a time as a safety precaution.
Until recently, Webb said, his YouTube videos included advertisements -- meaning the platform, which is owned by Google, was making money from Webb's misinformation, as was Webb himself.
Webb even claimed that the Italian DJ Benny Benassi, whose 2002 song "Satisfaction" became a worldwide sensation, had the coronavirus and that he, along with Maatje and Matt Benassi, were part of a Benassi plot connected to the virus. (Benny told CNN Business he has never met Maatje and Matt, and they said that as far as they know, they are not related. Benny pointed out that Benassi is a very common last name in Italy.)
Benny Benassi told CNN Business he has not been diagnosed with the coronavirus. Like artists around the world, he canceled his concerts because of social distancing and travel restrictions. (Webb previously claimed the DJ is Dutch, he is not.)
In a phone interview with CNN Business on Thursday, which he livestreamed to his followers on YouTube, Webb offered no substantive evidence to support his claims about the Benassis and said he considered himself an "investigative reporter," not a conspiracy theorist.
He also said that YouTube recently stopped running ads on his videos after he began talking about the coronavirus. Webb said he had normally made a few hundred dollars a month directly from YouTube.
YouTube confirmed to CNN that it was not currently running ads on Webb's channel, but it declined to say whether ads appeared there in the past or provide details on how much money his channel may have made. A company spokesperson said YouTube was committed to promoting accurate information about the coronavirus. The company removed some threatening comments about the Benassis that had been posted under Webb's videos when asked about them by CNN Business. YouTube also said it had removed some videos posted by Webb in the past.
False theories online spark real world concerns
While the allegations about the Benassis may be wildly untrue, the threats they face and the fear they feel are very real.
Matt Benassi said he fears this could "turn into another Pizzagate," referencing another baseless conspiracy theory that claimed a pedophilia ring that somehow involved Hillary Clinton, among others, was operating out of a Washington DC pizzeria. The fringe theory didn't receive much mainstream attention until a man showed up at the pizzeria in late 2016 and fired an assault weapon, saying he was there to investigate "Pizzagate."
"It's really hard to hold him [Webb] accountable," Matt Benassi said. "Law enforcement will tell you that there's nothing that we can do about it because we have free speech in this country. Then they say, 'Go talk to a civil attorney,' so we did. We talked to an attorney. You quickly realize that for folks like us, it's just too expensive to litigate something like this. We get no recourse from law enforcement. We get no recourse from the courts."
Matt Benassi said he has complained to YouTube but even when the company does take videos down it can take days for it to do so. By that time, a video can go viral, and the damage is done. Worse still: videos Webb has posted to YouTube that are removed are often re-uploaded to the platform.
In China, the YouTube videos attacking the Benassis are uploaded to popular platforms there such as WeChat, Weibo, and Xigua Video and are translated into Chinese, according to an analysis by Keenan Chen, a researcher at First Draft, a non-profit that researches disinformation.
The Benassis' experience is unfortunately not unique, said Danielle Citron, a professor of law at Boston University School of Law and a MacArthur Fellow who studies online harassment. Faced with "cyber mobs," as Citron describes them, law enforcement often can't or won't investigate.
As for the likes of YouTube, Citron said the law has to change: "Right now, they're totally immune from legal liability under federal law. And so they can just walk away."
Whatever happens next, "the damage is done," according to Maatje Benassi. "I know it [will] never be the same. Every time you're going to Google my name, it will pop up as patient zero."
Maatje Benassi, a US Army reservist and mother of two, has become the target of conspiracy theorists who falsely place her at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, saying she brought the disease to China.
The false claims are spreading across YouTube every day, so far racking up hundreds of thousands of apparent views, and have been embraced by Chinese Communist Party media. Despite never having tested positive for the coronavirus or experienced symptoms, Benassi and her husband are now subjects of discussion on Chinese social media about the outbreak, including among accounts that are known drivers of large-scale coordinated activities by their followers.
The claims have turned their lives upside down. The couple say their home address has been posted online and that, before they shut down their accounts, their social media inboxes were overrun with messages from believers of the conspiracy.
"It's like waking up from a bad dream going into a nightmare day after day," Maatje Benassi told CNN Business in an exclusive interview, the first time she has spoken publicly since being smeared online.
As the coronavirus has spread around the world, so has misinformation about the disease. Technology giants have touted the steps they are taking to combat coronavirus misinformation, but these efforts have failed to help the Benassis. The family's suffering highlights the potential for blatant falsehoods to be rewarded and amplified by social media platforms. It also serves as a powerful reminder that misinformation online, however wild or obviously untrue it may seem, can have real and lasting consequences offline.
Maajte and her husband Matt are still active in their government jobs. Maajte is a civilian employee at the US Army's Fort Belvoir in Virginia where she works as a security officer. Matt, a retired Air Force officer, is a civilian employee with the Air Force at the Pentagon.
Despite working for the US government, the couple are experiencing the same feelings of helplessness familiar to others who have been the target of harassment and misinformation. "I want everybody to stop harassing me, because this is cyberbullying to me and it's gone way out of hand," Maajte said while fighting back tears.
Matt has tried to get the videos taken down from YouTube and to prevent their spread online. The couple said they contacted an attorney, who told them there was little that could be done, and local police, who told them much the same.
Origins of a coronavirus conspiracy theory
Conspiracy theories are not dissimilar to viruses, in that they evolve and mutate to spread and survive. Before Maatje Benassi became the main protagonist in this conspiracy, variations had circulated online for months.
In the early weeks of the coronavirus, conspiracy theorists began claiming, without evidence, that it was a US biological weapon. Later one member of the Chinese government publicly promoted the notion that the US military brought the virus to China. US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said it was "completely ridiculous and it's irresponsible" for someone speaking on behalf of the Chinese government to promote such a claim.
It wasn't until March, months after the first reported coronavirus cases in China, that conspiracy theorists turned their focus to Maatje Benassi. The baseless theory began with her participation in October in the Military World Games, essentially the military Olympics, which was hosted by Wuhan, the Chinese city where the coronavirus outbreak began last year.
Maatje Benassi competed in the cycling competition there, suffering an accident on the final lap that left her with a fractured rib and a concussion. Despite the crash, Benassi still finished the race, but it turned out to be the start of something worse. While hundreds of athletes from the US military took part in the games, Maatje Benassi was plucked out of the group and given a starring role in the conspiracy theory.
Perhaps the most prominent cheerleader of the idea that Benassi had a role in the imaginary plot to infect the world is George Webb, a prolific 59-year-old American misinformation peddler. Webb has for years regularly streamed hours of diatribe live on YouTube, where he has amassed more than 27 million views and almost 100,000 followers.
In 2017, CNN revealed how Webb was part of a trio of conspiracy theorists that pushed a false rumor about a cargo ship with a "dirty bomb" that was set to arrive at the Port of Charleston in South Carolina. The bomb never materialized, but the claims did lead to parts of the port -- one of the biggest in America -- being shut down for a time as a safety precaution.
Until recently, Webb said, his YouTube videos included advertisements -- meaning the platform, which is owned by Google, was making money from Webb's misinformation, as was Webb himself.
Webb even claimed that the Italian DJ Benny Benassi, whose 2002 song "Satisfaction" became a worldwide sensation, had the coronavirus and that he, along with Maatje and Matt Benassi, were part of a Benassi plot connected to the virus. (Benny told CNN Business he has never met Maatje and Matt, and they said that as far as they know, they are not related. Benny pointed out that Benassi is a very common last name in Italy.)
Benny Benassi told CNN Business he has not been diagnosed with the coronavirus. Like artists around the world, he canceled his concerts because of social distancing and travel restrictions. (Webb previously claimed the DJ is Dutch, he is not.)
In a phone interview with CNN Business on Thursday, which he livestreamed to his followers on YouTube, Webb offered no substantive evidence to support his claims about the Benassis and said he considered himself an "investigative reporter," not a conspiracy theorist.
He also said that YouTube recently stopped running ads on his videos after he began talking about the coronavirus. Webb said he had normally made a few hundred dollars a month directly from YouTube.
YouTube confirmed to CNN that it was not currently running ads on Webb's channel, but it declined to say whether ads appeared there in the past or provide details on how much money his channel may have made. A company spokesperson said YouTube was committed to promoting accurate information about the coronavirus. The company removed some threatening comments about the Benassis that had been posted under Webb's videos when asked about them by CNN Business. YouTube also said it had removed some videos posted by Webb in the past.
False theories online spark real world concerns
While the allegations about the Benassis may be wildly untrue, the threats they face and the fear they feel are very real.
Matt Benassi said he fears this could "turn into another Pizzagate," referencing another baseless conspiracy theory that claimed a pedophilia ring that somehow involved Hillary Clinton, among others, was operating out of a Washington DC pizzeria. The fringe theory didn't receive much mainstream attention until a man showed up at the pizzeria in late 2016 and fired an assault weapon, saying he was there to investigate "Pizzagate."
"It's really hard to hold him [Webb] accountable," Matt Benassi said. "Law enforcement will tell you that there's nothing that we can do about it because we have free speech in this country. Then they say, 'Go talk to a civil attorney,' so we did. We talked to an attorney. You quickly realize that for folks like us, it's just too expensive to litigate something like this. We get no recourse from law enforcement. We get no recourse from the courts."
Matt Benassi said he has complained to YouTube but even when the company does take videos down it can take days for it to do so. By that time, a video can go viral, and the damage is done. Worse still: videos Webb has posted to YouTube that are removed are often re-uploaded to the platform.
In China, the YouTube videos attacking the Benassis are uploaded to popular platforms there such as WeChat, Weibo, and Xigua Video and are translated into Chinese, according to an analysis by Keenan Chen, a researcher at First Draft, a non-profit that researches disinformation.
The Benassis' experience is unfortunately not unique, said Danielle Citron, a professor of law at Boston University School of Law and a MacArthur Fellow who studies online harassment. Faced with "cyber mobs," as Citron describes them, law enforcement often can't or won't investigate.
As for the likes of YouTube, Citron said the law has to change: "Right now, they're totally immune from legal liability under federal law. And so they can just walk away."
Whatever happens next, "the damage is done," according to Maatje Benassi. "I know it [will] never be the same. Every time you're going to Google my name, it will pop up as patient zero."
谷歌机翻 ...
独家新闻：她被错误地指控开始冠状病毒。她的生活被颠倒了
美军预备役军人和两个孩子的母亲马特杰·贝纳西(Maatje Benassi)已成为阴谋理论家的目标，他们阴谋地将她置于冠状病毒大流行初期，称她将这种疾病带到了中国。
虚假的说法每天都在YouTube上流传开来，到目前为止，已经有成千上万的明显观点被中共媒体所接受。贝纳西和她的丈夫尽管从未对冠状病毒进行过阳性检测或经历过任何症状，但现在仍在中国社交媒体上讨论有关爆发的话题，其中包括被追随者称为大规模协调活动的推动者。
这些要求使他们的生活颠倒了。这对夫妇说，他们的家庭住址已经发布在网上了，在他们关闭帐户之前，社交媒体收件箱里满是阴谋信徒发来的消息。
Maatje Benassi在接受独家采访时对CNN Business表示，这就像是从一个噩梦中醒来，日复一日地进入噩梦，这是自从她在网上被涂抹以来的第一次公开讲话。
随着冠状病毒在世界范围内传播，有关该疾病的错误信息也在传播。科技巨头已经吹捧他们为对抗冠状病毒错误信息而采取的措施，但这些努力未能帮助贝纳西斯。家庭的苦难凸显了通过社交媒体平台奖励和扩大公然虚假的可能性。它还可以强烈提醒您，在线错误信息，无论看起来多么疯狂或明显不真实，都可能在离线状态下产生真实而持久的后果。
Maajte和她的丈夫Matt仍然积极从事政府工作。 Maajte是美国陆军在弗吉尼亚州的贝尔沃堡(Fort Belvoir)的文职雇员，她是安全人员。马特(Matt)是已退休的空军军官，是五角大楼空军的文职雇员。
尽管在美国政府工作，这对夫妻仍遭受着其他人的相同的无助感，这些人一直是骚扰和误导的对象。 “我希望每个人都不要再骚扰我了，因为这对我来说是网络欺凌，而且已经一发不可收拾，” Maajte说道。
马特(Matt)试图从YouTube上删除这些视频，并阻止它们在网上传播。夫妻俩说，他们联系了律师，律师告诉他们没有什么可以做的，而当地警察也告诉了他们差不多。
冠状病毒阴谋论的起源
阴谋论与病毒没有什么不同，因为它们会进化和变异以传播和生存。在Maatje Benassi成为这一阴谋的主要人物之前，各种变化已经在线传播了几个月。
在冠状病毒的最初几周，阴谋理论家开始声称没有证据表明这是美国的生物武器。后来中国政府的一位成员公开提倡美军将病毒带到中国的观念。美国国防部长马克·埃斯珀(Mark Esper)表示，有人代表中国政府发表讲话来宣传这种说法“完全荒谬，这是不负责任的”。
直到3月，即在中国首次报道冠状病毒病例数月之后，阴谋理论家才将目光投向了Maatje Benassi。毫无根据的理论始于她在10月参加的世界军事运动会(本质上是军事奥林匹克运动会)，该运动会由去年冠状病毒爆发的中国城市武汉主办。
Maatje Benassi参加了那场自行车比赛，在最后一圈发生了意外，肋骨骨折并受到了脑震荡。尽管发生了车祸，贝纳西仍然完成了比赛，但事实证明那是更糟的开始。当数百名美国军方运动员参加比赛时，Maatje Benassi被抽离了队伍，并在阴谋论中扮演了主角。
贝纳西在虚构的世界中扮演着重要角色，这一观点最著名的拉拉队长是乔治·韦伯，他是一位多产的59岁美国错误信息小贩。韦伯多年来定期在YouTube上直播流连串的数小时直播，他在YouTube上积累了超过2700万次观看次数和近100,000个关注者。
2017年，美国有线电视新闻网(CNN)透露韦伯是阴谋理论家三人中的一员，这些阴谋论者以谣言谣传装有“脏炸弹”的货船将被运抵南卡罗来纳州的查尔斯顿港。炸弹没有实现，但索赔确实导致该港口的一部分(美国最大的炸弹之一)为安全起见暂时关闭了。
韦伯说，直到最近，他的YouTube视频都包含广告-这意味着该平台(由Google拥有)和韦伯本人一样都是从韦伯的错误信息中获利。
韦伯甚至声称，意大利DJ本尼·贝纳西(Denny Benny Benassi)感染了冠状病毒，他的2002年歌曲“满意度”在全世界引起了轰动，他与马亚特(Maatje)和马特·贝纳西(Matt Benassi)一起是与该病毒有关的贝纳西阴谋的一部分。 (Benny告诉CNN Business，他从未见过Maatje和Matt，他们说，据他们所知，他们没有关系。Benny指出Benassi在意大利是一个非常普遍的姓氏。)
本尼·贝纳西(Benny Benassi)告诉美国有线电视新闻网(CNN Business)，他尚未被诊断出冠状病毒。像世界各地的艺术家一样，由于社会原因和旅行限制，他取消了演唱会。 (韦伯以前声称DJ是荷兰人，但他不是。)
韦伯周四在美国有线电视新闻网(CNN Business)接受电话采访时，将其直播至YouTube上的追随者，韦伯没有提供任何实质性证据来支持他对本纳西斯的说法，并说他认为自己是“调查记者”，而不是阴谋论者。
他还说，在他开始谈论冠状病毒后，YouTube最近停止在其视频上投放广告。韦伯说，他通常每个月直接从YouTube赚几百美元。
YouTube向CNN证实，它目前尚未在Webb的频道上投放广告，但拒绝透露广告是在过去出现在该网站上还是提供有关该频道可能赚到多少钱的详细信息。公司发言人表示，YouTube致力于推广有关冠状病毒的准确信息。当CNN Business询问Webb视频时，该公司删除了一些有关Benassis的威胁性评论。 YouTube还表示，它已经删除了Webb过去发布的一些视频。
在线错误理论引发了现实世界的担忧
尽管有关贝纳西斯的指控可能是完全不真实的，但他们所面临的威胁和他们感到的恐惧是非常真实的。
马特·贝纳西(Matt Benassi)表示，他担心这可能会“变成另一个披萨门(Pizzagate)”，这是指另一种毫无根据的阴谋论，该论据声称存在恋童癖的一环，其中涉及希拉里·克林顿(Hillary Clinton)等人的活动是在华盛顿特区一家比萨饼店外进行的。直到2016年末，一名男子出现在比萨店并发射了攻击武器，并说他在那儿调查“披萨门”，这种边缘理论并没有得到主流的关注。
马特·贝纳西说：“要让他[韦伯]负责真的很困难。” “执法部门会告诉您，我们无能为力，因为我们在这个国家有言论自由。然后他们说，'去找民事律师吧。”我们照做了。我们与律师谈了。您很快意识到对于像我们这样的人来说，提起这样的诉讼实在太昂贵了。我们无法从执法部门获得追索权。我们也无法从法院获得追索权。”
马特·贝纳西(Matt Benassi)说，他已向YouTube投诉，但即使该公司确实撤下了视频，也可能需要几天的时间。到那时，视频可以传播病毒，并且损坏已经完成。更糟糕的是：韦伯发布到YouTube的视频通常会被重新上传到平台。
根据非营利组织First Draft的研究人员Keenan Chen的分析，在中国，攻击Benassis的YouTube视频被上传到那里的流行平台，例如微信，微博和Xigua Video，并被翻译成中文。虚假信息。
波士顿大学法学院法学教授，研究网络骚扰的麦克阿瑟学者麦克尼尔(MacArthur Fellow)表示，贝纳西斯的经历并非独一无二。正如Citron所描述的那样，面对“网络暴民”，执法部门通常无法或不会进行调查。
对于YouTube之类的公司，Citron说法律必须改变：“目前，他们完全不受联邦法律的法律责任约束，因此他们可以走开。”
根据Maatje Benassi所说，无论接下来发生什么，“损害都已经发生”。 “我知道(永远)不会相同。每次您访问Google时，我的名字都会显示为零患者。”
美军预备役军人和两个孩子的母亲马特杰·贝纳西(Maatje Benassi)已成为阴谋理论家的目标，他们阴谋地将她置于冠状病毒大流行初期，称她将这种疾病带到了中国。
虚假的说法每天都在YouTube上流传开来，到目前为止，已经有成千上万的明显观点被中共媒体所接受。贝纳西和她的丈夫尽管从未对冠状病毒进行过阳性检测或经历过任何症状，但现在仍在中国社交媒体上讨论有关爆发的话题，其中包括被追随者称为大规模协调活动的推动者。
这些要求使他们的生活颠倒了。这对夫妇说，他们的家庭住址已经发布在网上了，在他们关闭帐户之前，社交媒体收件箱里满是阴谋信徒发来的消息。
Maatje Benassi在接受独家采访时对CNN Business表示，这就像是从一个噩梦中醒来，日复一日地进入噩梦，这是自从她在网上被涂抹以来的第一次公开讲话。
随着冠状病毒在世界范围内传播，有关该疾病的错误信息也在传播。科技巨头已经吹捧他们为对抗冠状病毒错误信息而采取的措施，但这些努力未能帮助贝纳西斯。家庭的苦难凸显了通过社交媒体平台奖励和扩大公然虚假的可能性。它还可以强烈提醒您，在线错误信息，无论看起来多么疯狂或明显不真实，都可能在离线状态下产生真实而持久的后果。
Maajte和她的丈夫Matt仍然积极从事政府工作。 Maajte是美国陆军在弗吉尼亚州的贝尔沃堡(Fort Belvoir)的文职雇员，她是安全人员。马特(Matt)是已退休的空军军官，是五角大楼空军的文职雇员。
尽管在美国政府工作，这对夫妻仍遭受着其他人的相同的无助感，这些人一直是骚扰和误导的对象。 “我希望每个人都不要再骚扰我了，因为这对我来说是网络欺凌，而且已经一发不可收拾，” Maajte说道。
马特(Matt)试图从YouTube上删除这些视频，并阻止它们在网上传播。夫妻俩说，他们联系了律师，律师告诉他们没有什么可以做的，而当地警察也告诉了他们差不多。
冠状病毒阴谋论的起源
阴谋论与病毒没有什么不同，因为它们会进化和变异以传播和生存。在Maatje Benassi成为这一阴谋的主要人物之前，各种变化已经在线传播了几个月。
在冠状病毒的最初几周，阴谋理论家开始声称没有证据表明这是美国的生物武器。后来中国政府的一位成员公开提倡美军将病毒带到中国的观念。美国国防部长马克·埃斯珀(Mark Esper)表示，有人代表中国政府发表讲话来宣传这种说法“完全荒谬，这是不负责任的”。
直到3月，即在中国首次报道冠状病毒病例数月之后，阴谋理论家才将目光投向了Maatje Benassi。毫无根据的理论始于她在10月参加的世界军事运动会(本质上是军事奥林匹克运动会)，该运动会由去年冠状病毒爆发的中国城市武汉主办。
Maatje Benassi参加了那场自行车比赛，在最后一圈发生了意外，肋骨骨折并受到了脑震荡。尽管发生了车祸，贝纳西仍然完成了比赛，但事实证明那是更糟的开始。当数百名美国军方运动员参加比赛时，Maatje Benassi被抽离了队伍，并在阴谋论中扮演了主角。
贝纳西在虚构的世界中扮演着重要角色，这一观点最著名的拉拉队长是乔治·韦伯，他是一位多产的59岁美国错误信息小贩。韦伯多年来定期在YouTube上直播流连串的数小时直播，他在YouTube上积累了超过2700万次观看次数和近100,000个关注者。
2017年，美国有线电视新闻网(CNN)透露韦伯是阴谋理论家三人中的一员，这些阴谋论者以谣言谣传装有“脏炸弹”的货船将被运抵南卡罗来纳州的查尔斯顿港。炸弹没有实现，但索赔确实导致该港口的一部分(美国最大的炸弹之一)为安全起见暂时关闭了。
韦伯说，直到最近，他的YouTube视频都包含广告-这意味着该平台(由Google拥有)和韦伯本人一样都是从韦伯的错误信息中获利。
韦伯甚至声称，意大利DJ本尼·贝纳西(Denny Benny Benassi)感染了冠状病毒，他的2002年歌曲“满意度”在全世界引起了轰动，他与马亚特(Maatje)和马特·贝纳西(Matt Benassi)一起是与该病毒有关的贝纳西阴谋的一部分。 (Benny告诉CNN Business，他从未见过Maatje和Matt，他们说，据他们所知，他们没有关系。Benny指出Benassi在意大利是一个非常普遍的姓氏。)
本尼·贝纳西(Benny Benassi)告诉美国有线电视新闻网(CNN Business)，他尚未被诊断出冠状病毒。像世界各地的艺术家一样，由于社会原因和旅行限制，他取消了演唱会。 (韦伯以前声称DJ是荷兰人，但他不是。)
韦伯周四在美国有线电视新闻网(CNN Business)接受电话采访时，将其直播至YouTube上的追随者，韦伯没有提供任何实质性证据来支持他对本纳西斯的说法，并说他认为自己是“调查记者”，而不是阴谋论者。
他还说，在他开始谈论冠状病毒后，YouTube最近停止在其视频上投放广告。韦伯说，他通常每个月直接从YouTube赚几百美元。
YouTube向CNN证实，它目前尚未在Webb的频道上投放广告，但拒绝透露广告是在过去出现在该网站上还是提供有关该频道可能赚到多少钱的详细信息。公司发言人表示，YouTube致力于推广有关冠状病毒的准确信息。当CNN Business询问Webb视频时，该公司删除了一些有关Benassis的威胁性评论。 YouTube还表示，它已经删除了Webb过去发布的一些视频。
在线错误理论引发了现实世界的担忧
尽管有关贝纳西斯的指控可能是完全不真实的，但他们所面临的威胁和他们感到的恐惧是非常真实的。
马特·贝纳西(Matt Benassi)表示，他担心这可能会“变成另一个披萨门(Pizzagate)”，这是指另一种毫无根据的阴谋论，该论据声称存在恋童癖的一环，其中涉及希拉里·克林顿(Hillary Clinton)等人的活动是在华盛顿特区一家比萨饼店外进行的。直到2016年末，一名男子出现在比萨店并发射了攻击武器，并说他在那儿调查“披萨门”，这种边缘理论并没有得到主流的关注。
马特·贝纳西说：“要让他[韦伯]负责真的很困难。” “执法部门会告诉您，我们无能为力，因为我们在这个国家有言论自由。然后他们说，'去找民事律师吧。”我们照做了。我们与律师谈了。您很快意识到对于像我们这样的人来说，提起这样的诉讼实在太昂贵了。我们无法从执法部门获得追索权。我们也无法从法院获得追索权。”
马特·贝纳西(Matt Benassi)说，他已向YouTube投诉，但即使该公司确实撤下了视频，也可能需要几天的时间。到那时，视频可以传播病毒，并且损坏已经完成。更糟糕的是：韦伯发布到YouTube的视频通常会被重新上传到平台。
根据非营利组织First Draft的研究人员Keenan Chen的分析，在中国，攻击Benassis的YouTube视频被上传到那里的流行平台，例如微信，微博和Xigua Video，并被翻译成中文。虚假信息。
波士顿大学法学院法学教授，研究网络骚扰的麦克阿瑟学者麦克尼尔(MacArthur Fellow)表示，贝纳西斯的经历并非独一无二。正如Citron所描述的那样，面对“网络暴民”，执法部门通常无法或不会进行调查。
对于YouTube之类的公司，Citron说法律必须改变：“目前，他们完全不受联邦法律的法律责任约束，因此他们可以走开。”
根据Maatje Benassi所说，无论接下来发生什么，“损害都已经发生”。 “我知道(永远)不会相同。每次您访问Google时，我的名字都会显示为零患者。”