Claims that pizza listings on Etsy are selling child pornography are baseless
FILE - This Jan. 6, 2015 file photo shows an Etsy mobile credit card reader, in New York. Recent claims that listings of pizza photo downloads on the online marketplace are a disguise for pedaling child pornography are baseless. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
CLAIM: Listings on Etsy selling downloads of pizza photos for thousands of dollars are just a disguise for pedaling child pornography.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. Etsy investigated the claims and found them baseless, a representative said. While no threat to child safety was established, the posts were removed from the online marketplace because they did not appear legitimate and had what seemed to be unreasonably high prices.
THE FACTS: The listings appeared as the years-old conspiracy theory known as “pizzagate,” which posits that Democrats were harboring child sex slaves in a Washington, D.C., pizza parlor, has had a resurgence on social media.
Screenshots of a variety of listings from different accounts have been shared online, appearing to show digital image downloads being sold for thousands of dollars each, such as a close-up of a cheese pizza or a winking girl about to eat a pizza slice. As of Thursday, the listings had been removed from Etsy.
Many posts did not outright claim that the listings proved Etsy is party to illicit activities, instead hinting at a connection to those familiar with the “pizzagate” theory.
“Well, isn’t it weird, this is coming around again,” a man in a TikTok video says as screenshots of the listings appear behind him. “And remember what they told you last time, that it was just such a theory? And that how could you possibly believe pizza was related to this? How stupid. Hmm. Pretty pricey though.”
As of Thursday, the video had been viewed more than 600,000 times.
Others suggested that Etsy could be trafficking children through the listings.
“Disturbing images are coming out of Etsy showing pizza being sold for thousands of dollars along with images of children with pizza,” reads a post on X, formerly Twitter. “Are kids being trafficked on Etsy?”
In a statement to The Associated Press, Etsy, an online marketplace known for handmade and vintage items, said the claims are baseless and that it has found no evidence to suggest that the listings posed a risk to child safety.
The statement also noted that the listings were removed because they seemed to have unreasonably high prices and did not appear to be legitimate. An image of a pepperoni pie priced at more than $10,000 was taken down after it was flagged to Etsy by the AP.
The “pizzagate” rumors were popular among supporters of Republican Donald Trump during his winning 2016 campaign for president. The conspiracy theory led a North Carolina man to travel to Washington and fire a rifle in a local pizza parlor where he believed children were being enslaved.
Among the supposed evidence cited by proponents was that the eatery, Comet Ping Pong, was mentioned in some emails from Hillary Clinton’s campaign that were obtained by hackers. Conspiracy theorists tied this to the notion that “pizza” had been used online as a codeword for child sexual abuse material.
No credible proof has been produced to support the “pizzagate” narrative.
The false claims now spreading about Etsy are reminiscent of a baseless conspiracy theory from 2020, which alleged that retail giant Wayfair was using pricey storage cabinets to traffic children.
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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.