Your weekly fact-checks
#Elections2024
This week's election: South Africa National Assembly
CNN
Election Date: 29/05/2023
South Africans go to the polls on May 29 for what will likely be the most pivotal general election since the end of apartheid. Polls show the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party could lose its majority for the first time since Nelson Mandela led the party to power in 1994. While polling can be challenging in South Africa, most analysts believe that the ANC faces its stiffest challenge yet with a population deeply frustrated by the country’s direction.
#Conflicts
AAP
False: A video shows Rafah crisis actors creating propaganda footage to exaggerate war casualties.
The claim that a video shows Rafah crisis actors creating propaganda footage to exaggerate war casualties is false. The video is behind-the-scenes footage from a Palestinian drama filmed in the West Bank that aired months before the Rafah offensive.
PolitiFact
False: UN troops to be deployed across U.S. as Pentagon prepares for ‘civil unrest.’
An image of what looks like a news headline is alarming some social media users with the above claim. It was flagged to be false as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. The Pentagon also stated that this story is false.
AAP
False: A video shows Yemen’s Houthi rebels destroying a US Navy ship.
The claim a video shows Yemen’s Houthi forces destroying a US Navy ship is false. The video actually depicts a 2013 naval exercise involving the Royal Norwegian Navy.
AFP
False: Video shows Vladimir Putin transporting weapons to prepare for nuclear war.
A video of missiles being transported to Moscow ahead of an annual military parade has been falsely shared in posts that claimed it showed nuclear weapons moved on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin after he warned the West against sending troops to aid Ukraine. The footage was in fact filmed before Putin issued the warning about the "real" risk of nuclear war in February 2024.
#Healthcare
AFP
False: Rife frequency therapy can defeat cancer.
There is no single treatment for all cancers, but Facebook users in groups inspired by the research of American scientist Royal Raymond Rife claim his electromagnetic therapy machine invented in the 1930s can cure all forms of the disease. Experts say this is not backed by evidence, and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved no such device.
AAP
False: Pfizer representatives told a senate hearing that employees in Australia received a materially different "special batch" of the COVID vaccine.
The claim that Pfizer representatives told a senate hearing that employees in Australia received a materially different “special batch” of the COVID vaccine is false. The representatives told the hearing they imported a separate batch for company employees so as not to diminish government stocks.
Full Fact
False: Patients must opt out by the end of June to prevent NHS England from selling all their health data.
An old clip from the One Show depicting TV presenter Matt Allwright warning viewers they have until 23 June to opt-out of "the Great NHS Data Grab" is circulating on social media. In the segment, Mr Allwright advises that GP data will be up for sale from 1 July with the public required to fill out a form on the NHS Digital website in order to opt out of the sale. Ultimately, this isn’t true. It refers to a policy from 2021 that was ultimately suspended.
#Politics
Snopes
True: In May 2024, Elon Musk agreed to host a presidential debate featuring Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
Musk agreed to host a presidential debate between the three candidates on X (formely known as Twitter). However, Biden's and Trump's teams had not agreed to take part in a Musk-hosted debate at the time of this writing. The only candidate out of three to accept this offer was Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
India Today
False: This photo shows a huge crowd at Donald Trump's rally in the Bronx.
Former US President Donald Trump held a major campaign rally on May 23 in South Bronx, his first election campaign event in New York City since 2016. Following this, a photo of a huge gathering in an urban area was widely shared on social media, with claims that it shows Trump's Bronx rally to be huge. The photo is from former US President Barack Obama’s rally in 2008 near the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri.
Snopes
Mostly False: Germany's parliament voted to decriminalize the possession, acquisition and distribution of child pornography.
A viral claim circulating on social media in May 2024 stated that Germany had "decriminalized" the possession of child pornography. Videos and posts on TikTok, X and Instagram fueled the controversy, leading to widespread outrage regarding the alleged new rule. In reality, Germany did not decriminalize child pornography, but instead voted to reduce the criminal penalty for the possession of child porn.
AP News
False: New York Judge Juan M. Merchan wouldn’t let the defense call campaign finance expert Bradley A. Smith to testify Trump’s hush money trial.
Merchan did not bar Smith from testifying. Trump’s legal team chose to not call on him after the judge on Monday declined to broaden the scope of questioning the defense could pursue. The ruling echoed his pretrial ruling on the matter. Social media users misrepresented Merchan’s ruling, repeating a statement Trump made that Smith, a law professor and former Republican member of the Federal Election Commission, was not being allowed to take the stand.
#Nordics
Faktabaari
Väärin: Slovakian pääministerin salamurha onnistui suomalaisten väitteiden mukaan.
Slovakian pääministerin Robert Ficon (Smer-SD) väitettiin tulleen ammutuksi keskiviikkona 15. toukokuuta Handlovan kaupungissa Slovakiassa. Viimeisimpien tietojen mukaan Fico on selvinnyt hyökkäyksestä hengissä. Euroopan digitaalisen median seurantakeskuksen (EDMO) faktantarkistusverkosto on tutkinut ja tunnistanut useita Euroopassa liikkuvia vääriä ja valheellisia väitteitä, jotka liittyvät salamurhayritykseen.
Faktisk
Falsk: Palestinerne i Gaza er ofre for en terrororganisasjon som de selv valgte til å styre Gaza tilbake i 2006.
Dette er ikke sant. Det er riktig at Hamas vant det siste demokratiske valget i Gaza, men bare en liten del av dagens befolkning stemte på Hamas i 2006. Bare 13 prosent av befolkningen i Gaza stemte på Hamas ved valget i 2006. Påstanden om at dagens befolkning har valgt sin egen situasjon, er dermed ikke sann.
#WTF?! What The Fact of the week
Snopes
True: Henry Ford built a car with an exterior body made of soybean plastic in the 1940s.
There is no record of the exact formula Ford used to make the plastic components of the automobile. Contemporaneous sources claimed that in addition to soybeans, it was composed of other agricultural crops such as hemp, wheat and flax. One newspaper described the vehicle as "part salad and part automobile."
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