Your weekly fact-checks
#Elections2024
This week's election: Dominican Republic Presidential Election
Americas Society/Council of the Americas
Election Date: 19/05/2023
Dominican President Luis Abinader is on solid footing to win a second term. He is one of the country's most popular leaders, with an approval rating of roughly 70 per cent. His main message pertains to anti-corruption and it is seemingly resonating with citizens in the lead-up to voting. Also while under his leadership, the Dominican Republic has experienced one of the highest GDP growth rates in Latin America.
#Politics
PolitiFact
Half-True: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called the American gun rights lobby group, The NRA, a “terrorist organization”.
In the aftermath of the Feb. 14, 2018, mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Kennedy described the NRA as terrorists. Kennedy’s campaign spokesperson said Kennedy "has come to understand that the gun owners represented by the NRA have a legitimate viewpoint."
AFP
False: Man disguised in women’s clothes caught as India votes in 2024.
The video actually features Pakistan police dealing with a man for wearing a female Muslim face covering who was subsequently arrested in 2023 after he wore the garment to a college. This is contrary to Facebook posts that falsely claimed he masqueraded as a woman to commit voter fraud in India's ongoing national elections.
USA Today
Half-True: Bill Clinton signed 1996 law allowing 'illegal immigrants' to vote.
The law signed by Clinton explicitly forbids people who immigrated to the country illegally from voting in federal elections. Though an amended version of the law includes protections from fines and imprisonment for some people who vote illegally, the law still forbids noncitizens from voting in federal, state and most local elections.
India Today
Half-True: This viral video shows voter suppression in Uttar Pradesh.
The fourth phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections saw several videos alleging voter suppression in Uttar Pradesh being widely shared on social media. BJP workers disrupted voting at booth number 194 at the NM Convent School after sensing a high turnout of Muslim voters. These workers alleged fake voting and insisted on halting the polling until a woman constable could verify the identity of the burqa-clad women. However, the incident occurred not in Uttar Pradesh but in the Narela ward of Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh.
#Conflicts
AFP
Mostly False: Video shows Indian farmers protest clashing with security forces.
A video of a police training exercise in Indonesia surfaced in social media posts that falsely claimed it showed clashes between security forces and farmers vying to march to Delhi in a dispute over crop prices. The video was in fact filmed months before the protests began and shows police in Indonesia's Sula Islands holding a security drill ahead of the presidential election in February 2024.
Full Fact
Mostly False: An image shows the Russian military taking a base the US built and paid for in Niger, while US soldiers look on.
An image circulating on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) claims to show the Russian army taking a base the US built and paid for in Niger, while US soldiers look on. But the picture was actually taken in Syria in 2020. The image actually shows US soldiers standing across from Russian military armoured personnel carriers in Syria in May 2020.
CheckYourFact
Mostly False: Video shows Muslims and Leftists clashing with police in Sweden in 2024.
Israeli singer Eden Golan advanced to the Eurovision Grand Final, which is May 11. There have been protests against Golan’s participation in the contest due to the war in Gaza. Social media users are sharing a video of clashes between police and others, claiming it shows Muslims fighting police over Golan’s participation in Eurovision. However, the confrontations in the shared video were in 2009 and not related to the 2024 Eurovision singing contest.
#Healthcare
Full Fact
False: mRNA vaccines give people cancer.
A video on Instagram has made numerous claims including suggesting that a new cancer vaccine is a "gene changer'' and that because these vaccines use the same technology as previous Covid-19 vaccines, this is an attempt to ''finish off the job'' of giving people cancer. There is no evidence that new mRNA vaccines for cancer change recipients’ genes or give people cancer.
India Today
False: Video shows renowned cardiologist Dr Devi Shetty being assaulted on a television program for endorsing a medicine to treat heart disease.
A video is being shared that shows a news anchor explaining that a doctor was assaulted during a news debate by a fellow panellist. The video shows the assault and then cuts to the doctor in question speaking about the attack, and then claiming he had developed a new heart medicine that would help prevent cardiovascular diseases. However, after investigation it was found that unrelated videos were edited together with voice cloning technology and an Aaj Tak logo was added to give it credibility.
#Nordics
Tjekdet
Falsk: Video viser kong Frederik vifte med det palæstinensiske flag fra en balkon i København.
Flere danske medier rapporterede, at en falsk historie om kong Frederik spredte sig som en steppebrand på de sociale medier. Ifølge flere opslag viste en video angiveligt kong Frederik vifte med det palæstinensiske flag fra en altan i København. Men manden i videoen var en helt tilfældig mand, som overværede en pro-palæstinensisk demonstration i Malmø fra en balkon.
Faktisk
Falsk: Indtagelse af Ashwagandha giver en række fordele som f.eks. øget præstation i træningscentret, mere muskelvækst, bedre stresshåndtering, mindre rastløshed, mere motivation og mere energi i løbet af dagen.
Flere undersøgelser viser, at ashwagandha kan have en effekt på stress ved at reducere kortisolniveauet, men forskningen på området betegnes ofte som utilstrækkelig, fordi den løber over en kort periode og omfatter få personer. Ashwagandha kan også have en effekt på muskelmassen. Men den forskning, der viser dette, er udført på mennesker, der allerede er i god form.
#WTF?! What The Fact of the week
Snopes
True: The U.S. state of Hawaii is not covered by the NATO defense pact.
Hawaii is technically excluded from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization because it is not located around the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean or north of the Tropic of Cancer. It is likely though that the NATO member countries would still rise to defend the U.S. should an attack occur on Hawaii.
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