Your weekly fact-checks
#Elections2025
This week's election: Seychelles General Election
Election Date: 27/09/2025
General elections in Seychelles are scheduled for 27 September 2025, with the president elected through a two-round system if no candidate secures a majority in the first round. The National Assembly’s 26 members are chosen via first-past-the-post in single-member constituencies, with up to 10 additional seats allocated proportionally based on each party’s share of the national vote.
#TrumpCheck
PolitiFact
False: Trump said “There's no downside” to avoiding Tylenol or acetaminophen use while pregnant.
Doctors say acetaminophen, the main ingredient in Tylenol, is safe to take during pregnancy. Other over-the-counter pain relievers such as aspirin or ibuprofen aren’t recommended during pregnancy because they could harm fetal development. Untreated fever in pregnancy can pose maternal and fetal health risks. Links between Tylenol and autism are based on inconclusive reviews of conflicting science, doctors and researchers said.
PolitiFact
Barely-True: Trump said “I have ended seven unendable wars.”
Trump had a hand in ceasefires that have recently eased conflicts between Israel and Iran, India and Pakistan, and Armenia and Azerbaijan. But these were mostly incremental accords without a strong likelihood of long-term peace. Some leaders dispute the extent of Trump’s role. The U.S. was involved in a temporary peace deal between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, but violence in the region has continued. After Trump helped broker a deal between Cambodia and Thailand, the countries have accused each other of ceasefire violations that have led to violent skirmishes. A long-running standoff between Egypt and Ethiopia over an Ethiopian dam on the Nile remains unresolved.
Newschecker
False: A photo shows US President Donald Trump slurping spaghetti while King Charles III delivered his speech at the Windsor Castle state banquet during Trump’s official visit to the UK.
On close inspection, Trump’s facial features in the viral image appeared unnaturally distorted compared to others in the frame, which is a common sign of digital manipulation. Running the image through analysis flagged it as computer-generated or modified.
#Politics
WebQoof - The Quint
False: Video shows Prime minister Oli's interview after resignation following Gen Z protests in Nepal.
The claim is false. This interview is from 2016 when Oli resigned after losing the support of his coalition partners. It is not linked to the recent Gen-Z protests.
Africa Check
False: Video shows president Yoweri Museveni pleading with Ugandans to vote for him one last time.
A video circulating on social media shows Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni apparently pleading with Ugandans to vote for him one last time, claiming he has projects to complete. However, the video combines genuine footage with audio that has been generated using artificial intelligence tools and therefore is false.
Agence France-Presse - AFP
False: Stevie Nicks comforted Charlie Kirk's father at a memorial.
A series of Facebook posts claiming various high-profile celebrities comforted his father after one such event are false. The posts – which include identical language and misuse an image lifted from an obituary of a man who is not Kirk's father – are pushed by a network of Facebook pages managed in Vietnam that have repeatedly laundered fake content.
PolitiFact
False: There was not “a single, prominent conservative voice in the country that even remotely wanted or hoped or was pushing to get Jimmy Kimmel taken off the air.”
Following CBS’s cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s late-night show, Donald Trump praised the decision, claimed credit, and predicted that Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon would be the next to lose their shows. A week later, after reiterating his attacks on both hosts, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr publicly suggested Kimmel’s suspension, and ABC soon announced Kimmel’s program was going off-air indefinitely.
#Healthcare
Africa Check
False: South Africa's Department of Health is helping migrants with 'medical treatment' at their homes
A “breaking news” post with over 260,000 views claims that South Africa’s Department of Health plans to help migrants with medical treatment at their homes. But the department says this is false and urges users to verify information through its official platforms.
Africa Check
False: Soursop leaves can cure cancer.
Studies show that parts of the soursop tree have anticancer properties. But experts have repeatedly warned against using them to cure cancer and said more trials on human participants were needed. The claim that soursop leaves can cure all types of cancer, even at advanced stages, is false.
#Economy
Agence France-Presse - AFP
Mostly False: Nigerian authorities say 5% fuel levy is not among new tax laws coming in January 2026.
A major overhaul of Nigeria’s tax laws will take effect on January 1, 2026. Viral posts circulating on social media claim that, as part of these changes, Nigerians will start paying a new five percent surcharge on petrol from that date. However, this is misleading: while the surcharge is included in the revamped tax act, authorities have said no date has been scheduled to introduce the levy. At the same time, they have ruled out January 2026 for implementation.
#Conflicts
Lead Stories
False: Military pilots refused to fly armed planes to Israel.
A video with a false caption has gone viral more than two weeks after it was filmed. The chaotic scene was filmed on Sept. 3, 2025 when a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing was disrupted with shouts from the gallery. The protestors, former intelligence officer Captain Josephine Guilbeau and former U.S. Army Special Forces Green Beret, Lt. Col. Anthony Aguilar (Ret.), were removed from the chamber and arrested in the hall. They are not active duty pilots.
#Nordics
Tjekdet
Falsk: Vaccinerede børn har en betydeligt højere risiko for at udvikle en kronisk sygdom.
Det er konklusionen i en undersøgelse, der bliver gengivet i indlæg på sociale medier og i en kommende dokumentarfilm. Men undersøgelsen er fuld af alvorlige fejl, der gør konklusionerne ugyldige, har forskere udtalt. Forskerne bag undersøgelsen er enige og havde aldrig til hensigt at offentliggøre undersøgelsen på grund af metodologiske fejl.
#WTF?! What The Fact of the week
Snopes
True: Farmers feed cows skittles.
In 2017, thousands of red Skittles spilled from a truck in Wisconsin, drawing attention to the practice of farmers using rejected candy as part of cattle feed, a cost-saving alternative that grew popular after corn prices spiked. Experts note that candy is mixed with other feed under nutritional guidance, providing energy for cows while also reducing food waste, with companies like Mars selling unused sweets to processors in compliance with FDA regulations.
Check out the new Factiverse blog post
This week's blog post: 14 million people heard a lie before science could respond
When Joe Rogan spreads misinformation to millions, it makes headlines and gets corrected—but what about the countless false claims spreading unchecked on smaller platforms? This invisible crisis demands a new approach: real-time AI monitoring that can detect lies before they go viral.
Use Factiverse to extract crucial insights in real-time to strengthen your reporting
Factiverse helps media organizations and government teams monitor and analyze real-time reporting, identifying false narratives in elections before they spread. Reach out for a consultation to see how our tools can strengthen your reporting strategy