Your weekly fact-checks
#Politics
USA Today
False: Benjamin Netanyahu was diagnosed with 'Grade 3' prostate cancer.
No such diagnosis has been announced. Netanyahu underwent prostate removal surgery after he was diagnosed with an infection stemming from a benign prostate enlargement, according to reputable news reports.
#Conflicts
USA Today
False: No school shooter has been charged with terrorism.
Terrorism charges connected to school shootings are rare but not unprecedented. Several people have been charged with terrorism-related crimes in connection to school shootings, including a teen who killed four people in Michigan.
Snopes
False: In December 2024, Panama doubled fees for U.S. warships to transit the Panama Canal and started dedicating the additional funding toward women's reproductive health care.
A satirical claim that Panama doubled fees for U.S. warships transiting the Panama Canal to fund women's reproductive health care, accompanied by a fabricated quote from Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino, originated from a parody social media account. There is no evidence supporting the fee hike or the quote, and the Panama Canal Authority confirmed tariffs have not changed since January 2024.
USA Today
False: UnitedHealth Group took down its tribute to Brian Thompson.
A viral claim that UnitedHealth Group deleted its tribute post to late CEO Brian Thompson after criticism is false; the post remained visible on the company’s Facebook account as of Dec. 31, 2024. UnitedHealthcare also kept the tribute shared on its page, debunking the assertion that it was removed following negative reactions.
#Technology
PolitiFact
False: Bill Gates will be implanting digital IDs in newborns in Kenya.
Kenya has a digital ID program, but it does not involve implanting devices into babies. Video in the post shows a portion of a 2015 interview philanthropist and Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates gave to a Brussels news site in which he discussed safeguards on genetically modified organisms research. He was not talking about Kenya’s digital ID program. Kenya’s digital ID program involves physical ID cards and digital ID technology. Babies are assigned ID numbers at birth.
USA Today
False: Elon Musk bought Boeing.
No such deal has happened. No announcements, credible news reports or regulatory filings indicated a sale was underway, much less completed. Experts also said the images circulating this information were generated with AI.
#Healthcare
PolitiFact
False: RFK Jr. posted on X that, “Effective January 20th, all Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) will be BANNED in the United States.”
The post is from a suspended parody account on X. The official X account for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, does show Kennedy posted promising a U.S. ban on GMOs effective Jan. 20.
PolitiFact
False: The true nature of cancer is a parasite, hence why, Ivermectin, in conjunction with mebendazole, and (fenbendazole) is so effective.
Cancer is not a parasite — it grows from mutations in a person’s cells. Parasites are separate organisms that live on or in another host organism. Some studies have shown that ivermectin can help slow tumour growth, but it hasn’t been studied extensively in humans, and health agencies don’t approve it for treating cancer.
#Nordics
Tjekdet
Sandt: Dansk Boldspil-Union (DBU) har valgt ikke at modsætte sig, at Saudi-Arabien bliver vært for VM i fodbold for mænd i 2034.
DBU har udtrykt tillid til FIFA's menneskerettighedskrav og en forventning om, at Saudi-Arabien vil overholde dem som skitseret i budprocessen. Eksperter har dog kritiseret disse retningslinjer for at være vage og umulige at håndhæve, hvilket giver anledning til bekymring for, at Saudi-Arabien selektivt kan tage fat på visse rettigheder, mens de forsømmer andre.
#WTF?! What The Fact of the week
Snopes
True: There Are More Trees on Earth Than Stars in the Milky Way.
A 2015 study published in Nature estimated there are approximately 3.04 trillion trees on Earth, far surpassing the 100–400 billion stars commonly estimated to exist in the Milky Way. While both estimates are inherently uncertain due to the challenges in accurately counting trees and stars, the claim that there are more trees on Earth than stars in our galaxy is considered true. The study also noted that around 15 billion trees are cut down annually, highlighting the importance of conservation efforts.
Sign up to test the new release of the Factiverse AI Editor
Factiverse is planning to release a new version of our AI editor in the coming months and we are looking for feedback from dedicated users.
Sign up here to access the beta and help enhance real-time fact-checking!
Check out the Factiverse Blog
Want to know more about the world of misinformation and fact-checking? If so, make sure to out the Factiverse Blog! We explore these topics to give our readers a better understanding of these topics while also giving guidelines on how organisations can protect themselves. Click here to look at our list of posts.