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All English Fact Checks

False: A widespread photo of an owl resting on a blue pad shows that the birds can sit with their legs crossed like humans. A misconception about owls is spreading its wings online, giving users a fun factoid that doesn’t stand up. (Source: Associated Press - AP News)

The Federal Reserve...: The Federal Reserve is launching a new program that will give it the power to monitor, freeze and even seize private bank accounts based on a person’s behavior or political beliefs. Fed officials and banking experts say the newFedNow servicedoes not give the agency additional surveillance and enforcement authorities. They say the service simply replaces the agency’s outdated system for banks to process checks and electronic payments. Yet social media posts are sharing a lengthy blog piece with the headline “U.S. Government Docket No. OP-1670 Exposes New Fed Power to Seize Control of U.S. Bank Accounts.” The blog item claims a secretive government initiative “gives unelected officials the power to closely monitor or even freeze your account based on your behavior, and potentially even based on your political views.” It also claims the system would give government officials the power to monitor a person’s investments, restricting how much they can invest or contribute to certain companies, causes and political parties. But the government document referenced by the post —Docket No. OP-1670— suggests nothing of the sort, Fed officials and banking experts say. Instead, they say, it details the creation of FedNow, a new service set to launch this summer that will allow banks and credit unions to speed up the dayslong process of clearing checks and electronic payments. “The Fed and FedNow cannot access individuals’ bank accounts or control how they choose to spend their money,” the agency said in an emailed statement. Aaron Klein, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a think tank in Washington, D.C., concurred. He said the Fed is simply revamping its outdatedAutomated Clearinghouse system, which is the network financial institutions use to send each other electronic credit and debit transfers such as payroll direct deposits, social security benefits and tax refunds. “They are upgrading their current system that runs on 1950s tech to one that’s modern,” Klein explained in an email. “It’s like changing from Blockbuster to Netflix.” Nicholas Anthony, a policy analyst at the Cato Institute, another Washington-based research group, noted that banking institutions are already required to report suspicious financial behavior and other potential threats under the federalBank Secrecy Act, which was enacted in 1970 to crack down on money laundering and the financing of terrorism. There isn’t anything secretive about the planned system, either, as the blog post claims, Anthony noted. The Fed has providedregular updateson the process, launched afrequently asked questions pageand even published a notice in theFederal Register early in the process in order to solicit public feedback. The blog post appears to wrongly conflate the forthcoming FedNow system with digital currency, commonly referred to as a “central bank digital currency,” or CBDC, which the Fed has also said it is exploring, Anthony and other experts say. Fed officials have stressed FedNow is unrelated to the notion of a government-run digital currency, which social media users also falsely claim would lead to theelimination of cash. (Source: Associated Press - AP News)

False: A photo shows King Charles, Jimmy Savile and the Dunblane massacre shooter. Claims that a photo shows King Charles, serial abuser Jimmy Savile and the Dunblane massacre shooter are going viral online. A video featuring the image has over 50,000 views on TikTok and has also been shared on Twitter and Facebook . The picture is a genuine photo taken by a PA (Source: Full Fact)

Barely-True: Says Social Security is a “legal Ponzi scheme.” Johnson has repeatedly and publicly called Social Security "a Ponzi scheme." Social Security is a publicly run program, which is required to pay benefits, and the government, in turn, is obligated to return money borrowed from the fund with interest.Social Security is "morally the polar opposite" of a Ponzi scheme and "fundamentally different," an expert says. (Source: PolitiFact)

All German Fact Checks

Falscher Kontext: Ein Video zeige, wie die Polizei in Bremerhaven einer muslimischen Familie das Kind weggenommen habe. Grund sei, dass die Familie LGBTQ für „nicht richtig“ halte. „Es wurde in Bremerhaven ein Kind einer muslimischen Familie von der Polizei weggenommen, weil die Eltern dem Kind gesagt haben, dass LGBTQ nicht richtig ist“, behauptet ein Nutzer in einem Twitter-Beitrag von Ende April. Dazu veröffentlichte er – wie vieleandere– ein Video, das  (Source: Correctiv)