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No evidence for website's claim about microchipping government benefits recipients
A website claiming to be "exposing one truth at a time" deceptively says citizens will soon need to be microchipped in order to receive government benefits.
"All Citizens Who Want to Receive Gvt Benefits Must Agree to Be Microchipped in the Near Future," said a Jan. 12 story on unseen-pedia.com, operating under the banner Anti News Network.
But Anti News Network’s headline is not supported by its story and we found no indication of this being in the works.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture oversees the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a program formerly known as food stamps that helps low-income individuals. USDA told PolitiFact it has no plans to require microchipping to receive program benefits.
Facebook users flagged Anti News Network’s post as being potentially fabricated, as part of the social network’s efforts to combat misinformation.
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Anti News Network’s story includes accurate information about a software and breakroom kiosks company in Wisconsin, Three Square Market, which offered its employees the ability to get a microchip under their skin. By waving their microchipped hand on sensors, employees can get access into the company’s building, sign on to their computers and pay for snacks.
Anti News Network also includes a legitimate quote from a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, who said the concept of microchips will likely become more common in the future.
The post also said that "the idea of using microchips in order to track the financial situations of welfare recipients has already been suggested by one politician in Finland." (The Independent reported about that in 2015.)
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But there’s no mention in the story about this being a settled matter of policy across the United States. Instead, the story raises concerns about microchipping and calls on Americans to be vigilant.
"But regardless of how good the intentions may be, there are still a lot of questions that must be answered before the people of our country and elsewhere embrace the use of surgically implanted microchips. … If Americans are serious about holding on to our Fourth Amendment right to privacy, then these are questions that we should all demand be answered before more advancements in microchip technology are made," the post said.
It’s not the first time we’ve fact-checked claims about governments microchipping their citizenry. We’ve rated as Pants on Fire another claim giving the false impression that the Australian government is implanting microchips in its citizens.
Anti News Network published a headline that’s inconsistent with its own story and not supported by facts.
We rate Anti News Network’s statement Pants on Fire.
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Our Sources
Anti News Network, All Citizens Who Want to Receive Gvt Benefits Must Agree to Be Microchipped in the Near Future, Jan. 12, 2018
KSTP.com, Wisconsin Company to Implant Microchips in Employees, July 24, 2017, KSTP Year in Review: 2017's Top 5 Most Talked About Stories, Dec. 28, 2017
CNBC, Why most of Three Square Market's employees jumped at the chance to wear a microchip, Aug. 13, 2017
Email interview, U.S. Department of Agriculture press office, April 9, 2018
USA Today, You will get chipped — eventually, Aug. 9, 2017, updated Aug. 10, 2017
The Independent, Finnish politician advocates implanting benefit claimants with microchips to track them, Aug. 12, 2015
PunditFact, No, the Australian government is not installing microchips in citizens, July 6, 2017
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More by Miriam Valverde
No evidence for website's claim about microchipping government benefits recipients
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