Elon Musk revives debunked ‘Pizzagate’ conspiracy theory

The Pizzagate conspiracy theory has been debunked since 2016, but Elon Musk and other social media users have revived allegations of an underground sex trafficking operation in posts saying a journalist who uncovered the hoax was charged with child pornography. This is false; the claims stem from a fabricated New York Post headline, and the reporter who was arrested did not publish any article fact-checking Pizzagate.

“Pizzagate is real,” says text in a meme referencing the TV show “The Office,” which Musk shared November 28, 2023 on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“No it isn’t, we have experts,” the post continues.

“Your expert just went to jail for child porn.”

Musk later deleted the meme (archived here), but the same claims have circulated elsewhere on Instagram and Facebook.

Some users have shared a supposed New York Post headline that says: “Award winning ABC journalist who ‘debunked’ Pizzagate, pleads guilty in horrific child porn case.”

Screenshot of a Facebook post taken November 28, 2023

Screenshot of an X post taken November 28, 2023

The posts appear to reference former ABC News journalist James Gordon Meek, who in September 2023 was sentenced to 72 months in prison for transportation and possession of child sexual abuse material (archived here).

Similar claims that Meek had previously “debunked” Pizzagate have circulated online since at least July.

Pizzagate refers to the conspiracy theory that Comet Ping Pong, a Washington pizza restaurant, was a hub for a child sex trafficking ring involving former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton and other prominent Democrats.

In 2016, a man was arrested after he fired his assault rifle inside the pizzeria. He told police that he drove up from North Carolina to personally investigate stories that Comet was a center for child abduction.

Supporters of the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory have since sought to revive such claims, which Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department called “fictitious” and numerous fact-checking and media outlets have debunked.

The claims about Meek are the latest example of that trend.

Live and archived versions of the former journalist’s ABC News profile show no articles debunking Pizzagate. A 2017 article about Syria and Russian propaganda that Meek co-authored with two other journalists mentions the conspiracy theory in passing (archived here).

The supposed New York Post headline some shared as evidence that Meek had debunked Pizzagate is fabricated. No such article appears on live or archived versions of the tabloid’s website.

Other social media users have shared screenshots of a headline claiming the FBI said: “Pizzagate is real.” But no such announcement appears on the agency’s website (archived here).

AFP reached out to the FBI and the New York Post for comment, but no responses were forthcoming.