Your weekly fact-checks
#AI Governance for Media: Free Virtual Event January 30th
On January 30, Factiverse's Smart Trust Virtual Summit brings together media leaders who've successfully implemented AI governance frameworks to share their practical risk management, vendor evaluation, and ROI measurement strategies.
This free virtual event (limited to 150 seats) offers actionable frameworks rather than theory—register at https://www.factiverse.ai/smart-trust-summit
#Greenland
Snopes
True: U.S. President Donald Trump sent a message to Norwegian Prime Minister that appeared to tie Trump's desire for the U.S. to acquire Greenland to Norway failing to award him the Nobel Peace Prize.
Trump sent a message confirming this and stating he no longer felt obligated to "think purely of Peace" and that the world needed U.S. "Complete and Total Control of Greenland." Both Norwegian and White House officials verified the authenticity of the message.
#TrumpCheck
FactCheck.org
Half True: Trump said "48 per cent of the presidents have invoked the Insurrection Act."
Eighteen of 45 presidents, or 40%, have invoked the act for crises such as rebellions, labor disputes and enforcing civil rights federal court orders. Most of these crises occurred prior to 1900. The most recent use of the act was in 1992, when the California governor asked President George H.W. Bush to do so in order to send federal troops to assist with civil unrest that erupted in Los Angeles following the acquittal of white police officers charged with beating Rodney King, a Black motorist.
#Conflicts
StopFake
False: The “Power” of the Russian Oreshnik caused an earthquake in the Lviv region.
The special control centers of Ukraine, the EU and the USA did not register a single earthquake on Ukrainian territory from January 8 to 9, 2026.
#Politics
Factly
False: Muslim voters standing in a queue during the recent 2026 BMC elections in Mumbai show that Muslims “wait for hours to elect their leaders, unlike Hindus".
A photo of Muslims standing in a queue during the 2024 Lok Sabha election in Varanasi is being shared as visuals from the 2026 BMC election.
Snopes
False: Demonstrators in Iran started shining their phone lights to protest when the Iranian government decided to shut off their streets lights.
A viral video claiming to show Iranian protesters using phone lights after the government shut off street lights during the late 2025 protests was actually AI-generated art, not authentic footage. Instagram artist Elnaz Mansouri created the "digital tribute" using AI tools and clearly labeled it as such, though the clarification was removed when others reshared the video, claiming it was real.
PolitiFact
False: A letter sent to postal service employees about working during emergencies such as civil unrest is a sign that President Donald Trump will impose martial law.
A Jan. 5 letter from a U.S. Postal Service leader to employees provided guidance about working during epidemics, hurricanes and civil unrest.The letter said postal workers are exempt from state and local curfews or travel restrictions and they should carry another letter with that information to provide to law enforcement if necessary. The postal service issued four similar letters in 2020 during the pandemic and summer protests.
#Healthcare
PolitiFact
False: The former U.S. childhood vaccine schedule called for babies to get “72 injections.”
The CDC's childhood vaccine schedule recommended 12 different vaccines for 16 diseases before age 10, not "72 injections" for babies—that misleading figure counts 18 years of vaccines, including annual flu and COVID shots, and assumes each dose is a separate injection when many are combination shots or oral. Under the 2024 schedule, babies actually received 12-30 shots before age 2, depending on combination vaccines and seasonal shots.
PolitiFact
False: “By federal law, if you sign someone up for Medicaid, you also give them the right to vote. … This is political patronage at the expense of Medicaid.”
The 1993 National Voter Registration Act requires most states to offer voter registration services at many government offices, including those that sign up people for Medicaid. A U.S. Election Assistance Commission report said that before the 2024 election, nationwide, about 1% of voter registration originated from public assistance offices. June 2025 survey data did not show dramatic differences in percentages of people from each political party who received Medicaid.
#Nordics
Tjekdet
Falsk: Danmark er i årevis blevet bedt om at få russerne ud af Grønland. Danmark er i årevis blevet bedt om at få russerne ud af Grønland.
Trumps gentagne påstande om, at NATO har bedt Danmark om at fjerne en russisk militær trussel fra Grønland, er ubegrundede. Sikkerhedseksperter bekræfter, at der ikke er nogen russisk militær trussel i Grønland, og NATO har ikke fremsat sådanne anmodninger til Danmark i de seneste 20 år. Ironisk nok har USA selv drastisk reduceret sin militære tilstedeværelse i Grønland fra 8.500-10.000 soldater fordelt på 18 baser i 1950'erne til lidt over 100 soldater på en enkelt base i dag.
#WTF?! What The Fact of the week
Snopes
True: A turtle's shell is actually a set of modified ribs.
Turtle shells are indeed made of modified ribs fused with vertebrae and shoulder bones, a unique evolutionary process that began around 250 million years ago and is found in no other animal on Earth. Fossil evidence from 220-million-year-old specimens shows the gradual development of this shell structure, with early turtle ancestors having distinctively broadened ribs that eventually evolved into the full carapace we see today.
Use Factiverse to extract crucial insights in real-time to strengthen your reporting
Factiverse helps media organisations and government teams monitor and analyse 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
Member discussion