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All English Fact Checks

False: The government is offering free smartphones to anyone who receives welfare payments. The claim that welfare recipients are eligible for free smartphones provided by the Australian government is false. The phones do not exist, the users making the posts are not associated with the government and the posts are marketing and phishing scams. (Source: Australian Associated Press - AAP)

False: Indian prime minister watching Bageshwar dham on TV Two videos of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been shared on social media posts alongside a false claim that they show him watching a Hindu nationalist Hindutva religious preacher Dhirendra Krishna Shastri on a TV screen. However, the videos are digitally altered. One of the original clips shows Modi watching a satellite liftoff, while the other shows him having a meeting with senior government officials. (Source: Agence France-Presse - AFP)

False: Video shows 2023 storm in South Africa Flooding hit South Africa’s port city of Cape Town in June 2023 as heavy rains pounded the region. Around the same time, a video emerged online claiming to show a flooded road and high waves along Cape Town's Sea Point promenade. But this is misleading: while the footage does show a severe storm in the city, it was recorded in 2017. AFP Fact Check already debunked the clip in 2020 during another spell of bad weather in Cape Town. (Source: Agence France-Presse - AFP)

False: Land in Australia will revert to native title if a referendum passes Legal scholars in Australia have rebuked social media posts that falsely say a referendum to grant the Indigenous population a dedicated "voice" in national policymaking would strip citizens of private land. The claim -- shared by campaigners fighting the vote -- is "complete nonsense" according to a law professor. (Source: Agence France-Presse - AFP)