Your weekly fact-checks
Live Fact-Checking the 2nd 2024 US Presidential Debate with Factiverse
Factiverse provided a comprehensive, real-time assessment of statements made during this week's US Presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and Former President Donald Trump. During the debate, Factiverse Live Fact-Checking detected 301 claims made by both presidential candidates as shown in preliminary data. You can read more about the preliminary data here.
A finalized dataset and report will be released shortly and if interested, please email info@factiverse.ai to learn more.
#Elections2024
This week's election: Jordanian general election
The National
Election Date: 10/09/2024
The king holds all significant powers in Jordan, which is home to 10 million people. The current parliament started its four-year cycle in December 2020. These elections followed reforms that lowered the candidacy age from 30 to 25 and allowed a mixed proportional representation system for 138 seats. The new system allows two votes for each person, one vote for lists running in 18 local districts competing for 97 seats, and another for political parties for the national district for 41 seats, with 12 quotas for the Christian, Circassian, and Chechen minorities, as well as 18 seats for women. In these elections, the percentage of seats for the national district is expected to increase until parliamentary majorities allow for the formation of parliamentary governments.
#Politics
PolitiFact
False: Donald Trump stated "In Springfield (Ohio), they're eating the dogs, the people that came in, they're eating the cats. They're eating, they're eating the pets of the people that live there.”
"A Springfield, Ohio, city spokesperson, the mayor and city police all said claims that Haitian immigrants are stealing and eating residents’ pets are unfounded. The claims appear to have originated with unverified social media posts.
Africa Check
False: Ignore posts falsely claiming Kenyan deputy president accused president of bribing lawmakers to pass 2024 Finance Bill.
In a video posted on X, Kenyan deputy president Rigathi Gachagua appears to accuse members of parliament of taking million-shilling bribes to pass the 2024 Finance Bill. But the video is over three years old and shows Gachagua accusing the previous government of bribing lower-ranking lawmakers.
USA Today
False: Obama said on CNN that Venezuelans have the government they deserve.
A Sept. 1 Facebook post claims a former U.S. president criticized Venezuelans.The supposed quote is fabricated, according to CNN. There is no credible evidence former President Barack Obama made such a statement about Venezuelans, and he didn't mention Venezuela in his last CNN interview in 2023.
USA Today
False: Four federal agencies donated to Kamala Harris' campaign.
An Instagram video shows a woman talking about supposed donations from federal entities to Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign. The woman says Harris' campaign collectively received donations worth over $800k from the Department of Defense, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of State and the Department of Veteran Affairs. Employees of the federal agencies and their affiliates donated to Harris – not the agencies themselves. It's illegal for federal agencies to contribute to political campaigns.
#Healthcare
AFP
False: The drug made by Barbara O'Neill cures hypertension.
Social media ads promote "breakthrough" treatments for high blood pressure and other illnesses using the likeness of Barbara O'Neill, an alternative health advocate barred from practising medicine in several Australian states. However experts have stated there is no evidence the products are effective, and O'Neill's spouse said she has not endorsed any of the purported cures.
Snopes
False: Children have received gender-affirming surgeries inside U.S. schools.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump made this false claim during an August 2024 event with the conservative organization Moms for Liberty. No evidence exists of schools performing any such surgeries, regardless of the idea of parental permission. Afterwards, it was reported that Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice — who spoke with Trump at the event — said of his remarks, "Are kids getting surgery in school? No, they’re not." Justice and her organization also shared by email their concerns about schools facilitating social transitions for children.
Full Fact
False: A US study shows that autism can be reversed.
A study published in June has made claims about “reversing” autism diagnoses using a combination of different methods. This is not correct, according to experts. The study in question was very limited in scope, involving two girls, and acknowledged this. Autism may present differently over time, but experts say autism is not a disorder or illness and it cannot be reversed or cured.
#Technology
USA Today
False: Kamala Harris said she will shut down X if elected.
The claim mischaracterizes a statement Harris made in 2019 about then-President Donald Trump’s activity on X. There is no credible evidence she has said she would close the entire platform upon her election.
#Economy
Full Fact
Half-True: The government found a £22 billion 'black hole' in the public finances.
This refers to the findings of a Treasury audit, which found an in-year overspend of £21.9 billion on departmental spending. The IFS says many of the challenges were “entirely predictable” but also that some in-year pressures do “genuinely appear to be greater than could be discerned from the outside”.
#Nordics
Fatisk
Falsk: Statsbudsjettet viser at Norge bruker mer penger enn Sverige.
Denne påstanden ble fremsatt av Sindre Wiig Nordby på sosiale medier. I norske kroner var Norges statsbudsjett større enn Sveriges i alle årene mellom 2005 og 2024, og var derfor heller ikke større enn Sveriges i 2012. Videre er flere av tallene i statistikken som vises feil, og det etterlates et inntrykk av at nasjonalbudsjettet representerer et lands økonomi feil.
#WTF?! What The Fact of the week
Snopes
True: Scientists Attempting to 'Reincarnate' the Woolly Mammoth By 2027.
Colossal's landmark de-extinction project will be the resurrection of the Woolly Mammoth - or more specifically a cold-resistant elephant with all of the core biological traits of the Woolly Mammoth. It will walk like a Woolly Mammoth, look like one, sound like one, but most importantly it will be able to inhabit the same ecosystem previously abandoned by the Mammoth's extinction. Though some members of the scientific community have doubts about the feasibility of the project, it is indeed real, as explained on Colossal's website.
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