On April 15, 2024, a Russian-speaking Threads user reported that the British publication The Economist predicted the start of a world war in view of Iran’s attack on Israel. In addition, according to the author of the post, the publication has previously predicted the terrorist attack in Crocus, the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, and the date of the war launched by Russia against Ukraine.
Notably, on April 14, Georgian- (1, 2) and Russian-language (1, 2, 3) Facebook users disseminated the same information along with a cover, which shows the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran. In the photo, we see Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Joe Biden, and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In addition, the cover has the inscription: “East on fire: who become a new owner of a region?” Some posts present the photo as the cover of The Economist magazine, while others claim that it is a new issue of TIME magazine. In the descriptions of the posts, the authors note that the publications predicted the start of a world war, which would be caused by Iran’s attack on Israel.
The disseminated photos and claims, as if Western publications predicted the start of a world war, are false. In addition, it is false to claim that The Economist or Time previously predicted the date of the terrorist attack in Russia, the start of the war in Gaza, and the start of the current war in Ukraine.
In order to verify the disseminated information, “Myth Detector” checked the websites and social networks of both The Economist and TIME. No such cover or publication could be found on any of them.
The distribution of the mentioned posts and photos on Facebook began by Russian-speaking accounts on the night of April 14. Some of them attach a Telegram link to the posts, which belongs to the closed group “The Экономист.” It should be noted that the website of The Economist does not feature a Telegram link, which proves that the above Telegram channel is not official. It should also be noted that the information about the danger of the beginning of the Third World War was published on this channel without the photo spread on Facebook, and in the same post, readers are advised to use the Russian-language Telegram channel “AZfront” to get more information on the current events between Iran and Israel.
The claim, as if The Economist predicted major events in the world in advance, was also spread in the past as well. For example, in 2023, Russia’s Channel One claimed that the publication predicted the coronavirus, the Russia-Ukraine war, and a general blackout. They explained all this by reviewing the magazine’s annual, New Year’s editions of different years. However, the claim is false. Specifically, in the case of the Russia-Ukraine war, the journalists “analyzed” the cover of the publication and according to their claim, the red color indicates blood, war and aggression, and the circle divided into eight sectors is a target, which indicates the use of weapons. This theory of Russia’s Channel One is not based on actual evidence. The Economist’s “The World Ahead 2022” cover was linked to the 20th Congress of the Communist Party in China, the establishment of a hybrid work format, the development of the metaverse, the African fashion boom and the space race.
“Myth Detector” wrote about the conspiracies spread about The Economist in the past as well. Read more in the article:
About the Source
The anonymous Facebook account “National Spirit” systematically spreads conspiracy theories, false information and photo manipulations. The disinformation spread by the user has been debunked by “Myth Detector” many times in the past.
The Facebook profile “Davit Jebashvili” regularly publishes posts of anti-Ukrainian and anti-Western content, as well as photo/video fabrications. The disinformation spread by him has been verified by “Myth Detector” a number of times.
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