Your weekly fact-checks
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Live Fact-Checking the 2024 US Presidential Debate with Factiverse
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#Elections2024
This week's election: French National Assembly
The New York Times
Election Date: 30/06/2023
President Emmanuel Macron unexpectedly called for snap elections after European Election results showed a large increase in support for the National Rally party, led by Marine Le Pen. Macron dissolved the lower house of France’s Parliament and said the first round of legislative elections would be held on June 30. France now finds itself in unpredictable territory, with the future of Macron’s second term potentially at stake after one of the shortest election campaigns in modern French history.
#Politics
Washington Post
False: Biden will be on performance-enhancing drugs for the US Presidential debate.
Allies and supporters of Donald Trump have pushed the claim that Joe Biden will be mentally performance-enhancing drugs during the upcoming presidential debate. They claim that usually, Biden is confused except when he is given some sort of medication, perhaps a stimulant, that reverses that effect. Experts have stated though that no such medicine exists.
PolitiFact
Barely True: Joe Biden said that Donald Trump’s plan is “cutting Social Security for you.”
In a March CNBC interview, former President Donald Trump said of entitlement programs such as Social Security, "There’s a lot you can do in terms of entitlements, in terms of cutting." However, Trump quickly walked that statement back. In addition, his campaign website says that not "a single penny" should be cut from Social Security, and he’s repeated similar lines in campaign rallies. Before the 2024 campaign, Trump expressed openness to major overhauls of Social Security, including cuts and privatization.
PolitiFact
False: Joe Biden’s immigration order limiting asylum is “pro-child trafficking.”
President Joe Biden’s border policy bars most people from seeking asylum if they enter the U.S. between official border crossings. The policy exempts unaccompanied minors. Human trafficking experts said the policy’s exemption for unaccompanied minors is in line with federal laws to protect children from trafficking. Many of Trump’s immigration policies included exemptions for unaccompanied minors.
India Today
False: PM Modi was the only world leader invited by the Pope to meet him during the G7 Summit in Italy.
A video of the Pope meeting PM Modi has gone viral on social media with the claim that out of all the state leaders, only PM Modi was invited by the Pope to meet him during the G7 Summit in Italy. The viral video is from 2021 — not the recent G7 Summit. The Pope met several state leaders along with PM Modi on the sidelines of the global leaders meet.
#Conflicts
Snopes
False: Google removed Palestine from Google Maps.
There has never been a 'Palestine' label on Google Maps. There are labels for 'West Bank' and 'Gaza Strip'. In reality, Google Maps does not include "Palestine" because while most of the countries of South America, Africa and Asia recognize it as a state, most of the Western countries do not. In consequence, Google treats the Palestinian territories — Gaza and the West Bank — the same way it does other disputed territories: with labels and dashed grey borders.
Reuters
False: Ukraine-Romania Euros match featured a Donetsk flag.
An image from a broadcast of Ukraine and Romania’s Euro 2024 soccer game on June 17 has been edited to include the flag of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), a region of Ukraine that Russia has claimed, beside the pitch. However, this still from Ukraine and Romania’s Euros 2024 football game on June 17 was altered to add the flag of the Donetsk People's Republic claimed by Russia.
Africa Check
False: Russia, and Nigeria governments deny Nigerian students in Russia are forced to fight in Ukraine to get their visas renewed.
It's been over two years since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Several posts on Facebook in Nigeria claim that the Russian government is forcing Nigerian students to fight in the war against Ukraine in order to renew their visas. However, the Nigerian and Russian governments deny that Nigerian students in Russia are being forced to fight in the war for visas.
#Healthcare
Health Feedback
False: COVID-19 vaccines “are killing millions” according to The People's Voice.
On 31 May 2024, an article in The People’s Voice claimed “Japanese Leader Apologizes to the Unvaccinated: ‘You Were Right, Vaccines Are Killing Millions of Our Loved Ones'”. Posts sharing this headline made the rounds on Facebook and Instagram, receiving tens of thousands of interactions. However, Data from published studies and safety monitoring found that people who received a COVID-19 vaccine aren’t more likely to die from any cause compared to unvaccinated people. On the contrary, evidence shows that by preventing serious illness, COVID-19 vaccination saved lives.
Snopes
False: The fruit of the Graviola tree (soursop or guyabano), or other components of the plant (A. muricata), are a viable cure for cancer.
Chemicals within the fruit have shown potential anticancer properties in the lab, but no evidence supports its use as a "cure" for cancer. In June 2024, an oft-repeated claim about a too-good-too-be-true natural cancer cure was shared extensively on the social media platform known as X.
Snopes
False: Energy drinks such as Monster and Celsius have unhealthy levels of cyanide.
In May 2024, a video went viral on social media, claiming that energy drinks, such as Monster and Celsius, have unhealthy levels of cyanide. "Celsius energy drink has four times the amount of daily cyanide that human beings are meant to ingest,". However, Energy drinks such as Monster and Celsius do not contain unhealthy levels of cyanide.
#WTF?! What The Fact of the week
Snopes
True: A wire-enclosed “baby cage” was invented in 1922 to suspend toddlers outside of apartment building windows to get “proper fresh air.”
There was a wire-enclosed "baby cage" said to have been invented in 1922 as a way to suspend toddlers outside of apartment building windows as a means to give them "proper fresh air." A keyword search of "baby cage patent 1922" and found the invention was genuine. The patent was described as a "Portable Baby Cage" and was filed on July 19, 1922, by Emma Read. She stated that "the purpose of the present invention to provide an article of manufacture for babies and young children, to be suspended upon the exterior of a building adjacent an open window, wherein the baby or young child may be placed."
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