Social media post announcing WHO arrests in pandemic is Pants on Fire!

The World Health Organization is the bogeyman in a social media claim disguised as "Breaking News" that says the agency is facing a dramatic legal reckoning.

"BREAKING NEWS: Emergency injunction and tribunal order was served to WHO and all criminal defendants listed below to immediately cease and desist a criminal conspiracy to commit war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity and to arrest and incarcerate these criminal defendants," reads a screenshot of a tweet shared March 11 on Instagram. 

A caption on the post elaborated that "all constitutional law enforcements officers worldwide," including Interpol, had been tapped "by the Tribunal" to arrest and incarcerate "these criminal codefendants for unlawful and genocidal acts in connection with the WHO Pandemic preparedness response and changes to the international health regulations." 

Among the alleged "criminal defendants": Microsoft Corp. co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates, former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases head Dr. Anthony Fauci, everyone who works at the World Health Organization, President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump, and TV talk show magnate Oprah Winfrey.

The list goes on in the post’s comments, indicting heads of state, health organizations, and media bigwigs, and ends with a statement attributed to "Judge Pascal Najadi": "They will all be arrested as soon as possible, Military and law enforcement worldwide are preparing for this to happen. Godspeed."

This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

Najadi isn’t a judge; he’s a self-described former Swiss banker who recently said he sued the Swiss president for wrongly promoting COVID-19 vaccines. 

Featured Fact-check

Facebook posts

stated on January 22, 2020 in a Facebook post

Says a coronavirus patent expired just as there is a "sudden outbreak" and, despite "media fear-mongering," there is already a vaccine available.

There’s also no evidence to support the claims in this post.

The mass arrest of world leaders and the more than 8,000 people who work at the World Health Organization, among others, would be a huge global news event drawing intense media coverage and scrutiny.

Yet, there are no credible sources reporting on these claims. Looking at Pacer, a database of U.S. federal court records, we found no such arrest warrants. On Interpol’s website showing red notices, which are requests to law enforcement worldwide to arrest someone, Gates, Fauci, Biden, Trump and Winfrey don’t appear.   

We rate this post Pants on Fire!