Posts falsely attribute quote on child ‘sexual partners’ to UN

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CLAIM: The United Nations said that “children must have sexual partners.”

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. There is no evidence the organization has ever made that statement and a spokesman called the claim “false.”A website attributing the quote to the U.N. points to a document that does not include that statement.

THE FACTS: Social media posts are sharing an image baselessly attributing the quote to the U.N.

“‘Children must have sexual partners,’ says United Nations,” reads the image, which shows the face of a young child. The text goes on to accuse the U.N. and its World Health Organization of being part of an effort to “normalize pedophilia.”

“Dirty satanic agenda playing out!” reads text on an Instagram video featuring the image.

But there is no record of the U.N. publishing the purported quote.

“This report is false,” U.N. deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq told The Associated Press in an email, adding that “nothing like that quote has been said.”

The image was published as a flier on a website that warns of an “agenda for world domination.”

The website in question references a publicly available U.N. document on sex education. The document does not include the purported quote.

The report discusses a “comprehensive sexuality education” that “aims to equip children and young people with knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that will empower them to: realize their health, well-being and dignity; develop respectful social and sexual relationships; consider how their choices affect their own well-being and that of others; and, understand and ensure the protection of their rights throughout their lives.”

The erroneous attribution spread amid recent misinformation about a report that was done in collaboration with the U.N.’s AIDS agency.

In that case, social media posts erroneously claimed that the report, published in March by the International Commission of Jurists, called for decriminalizing sexual activity between adults and minors. In reality, the report recommended enforcing minimum age of consent laws in a non-discriminatory manner.

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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.