This inscription does not appear on the building. - Twitter screenshot

  • A manipulated image of the entrance to the Gates couple's foundation circulates in the form of a meme.
  • The inscription never appeared on the facade of this building inaugurated in 2011.

No, an inscription in favor of the reduction of the population is not displayed on the facade of the foundation of Bill and Melinda Gates. A photo of the foundation's headquarters in Seattle is circulating in the form of a meme.

Above the name of the foundation, there is the inscription "Center for the global reduction of the human population". The inscription has been circled in red. This manipulated image circulates in several countries.

This meme circulates in several languages. - Twitter screenshot

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This image has been modified. This inscription does not appear on the facade of the foundation of the Gates couple. The original image is found in a BBC article in September 2019. The BBC indicates that the image was taken by the Reuters agency, but does not give the date of the photograph. The image is probably older, because we find this same photo on a site that published it in 2012, without specifying the source of the photo.

A further search on Google Maps shows that the inscription was not there in 2019. The tree that we see on the right of the photograph manipulated has disappeared. On other older photos of the facade of this building, distributed by the Sipa news agency, in 2011, the year the building was inaugurated, the tree is clearly visible, but there is no trace of the inscription on the facade of the building, which confirms the manipulation of the photograph published on social networks.

The headquarters of the Gates spouses foundation, in June 2011, when it was inaugurated. - Elaine Thompson / AP / SIPA

On a more recent photo, dated 2015, the tree of the forecourt is no longer visible, which suggests that the original photo was taken between 2011 and 2015. The inscription is also missing from the facade of the building on this photo from 2015.

The facade of the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation on January 3, 2015. - SIPANY / SIPA

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