In Australia, a blogger was fined who lied that she had cancer

An Australian court has fined a blogger who deceived her subscribers by talking about a miraculous cure for cancer.

Source: BBC

25-year-old Belle Gibson (full name — Annabel Natalie Gibson) became famous in Australia after she said that she was cured of cancer with the help of alternative therapy and a healthy diet. According to the blogger, she had cancer of the blood, spleen, brain, uterus and liver.

Gibson said that she adheres to a healthy lifestyle, sits on a detox diet that helps her feel good and recover. The Australian woman rejected traditional treatment.

200 thousand subscribers in social networks followed the healing of the girl. She also kept a blog, published a recipe book, an application for smartphones, traveled with lectures around the country.

But the beautiful story began to crumble. Gibson said she sent $300,000 of the proceeds from the app to charity. But it turned out that the charitable foundation, where the money was allegedly sent, did not receive anything.

The media started checking information about Gibson. It turned out that she was lying about her age and no one knows where she was examined and who treated her. The girl herself did not comment on the situation and hurried to leave social networks. The books were withdrawn from sale, and the application was removed. Gibson later gave an interview to the magazine, where she admitted that the story about cancer was made up.

In 2016, a case was opened against the blogger, and the guilt was finally proved only a year later. The Federal Court in Melbourne found Gibson guilty of defrauding consumers and withholding funds raised for charity. She was fined 322 thousand dollars. The judge called the girl's act "shameless" and added that she had an "obsessive obsession with herself."

Earlier, the Penguin publishing house, which published Gibson's book about a healthy diet, paid a fine of 22 thousand dollars.