Factcheck for Facebook_EN
On September 23 various social media networks featured claims of radioactive fallout at the Rivne nuclear power plant in western Ukraine resulting in the evacuation of people in the town of Varash. In fact there was no nuclear incident, no radiation had been leaked and there was no evacuation underway. The fake claims were denied by Ukrainian authorities. Several social media news accounts announced that the third block of the…
Against the backdrop of continuing protests and strikes in Belarus in opposition to the falsified presidential elections and the use of violence against peaceful protesters, all sorts of fakes and distortions continue to be disseminated on social media. One such fake alleges to show protesters being paid for participating in the demonstrations. In fact the photo in question captures a spontaneous protest in Grodno on August 23, 2020 where people…
Another historical distortion denying Stalinist repressions is spreading on social media. Posts about the 1932 Soviet law “On the protection of Socialist Property”, better known as the Zakon o koloskakh, the Law of Spikelets attempt to justify the cruelty of the Soviet system towards its own citizenry. Thanks to this law the plundering of socialist property was suppressed, assures a Facebook post, claiming that Stalinist repressions weren’t really that horrible…
As Belarusian protests and strikes continue throughout the country, social media posts have appeared claiming that the white and red Belarusian flag protesters have been waving is actually a Nazi and fascist flag. In fact, the white and red Belarusian flag has been a symbol of Belarus’ national movement since the end of the 19th century and was the national flag of Belarus from 1991-1995. The first Belarusian national congress…
Against the backdrop of mass protests that swept across Belarus after Aleksander Lukashenko claimed an overwhelming victory in the August 9 presidential elections, fakes alleging that EU countries were involved in the civil unrest began circulating on social media. Polish leaders in particular are being accused of organizing a coup in Belarus and openly advocating Lukashenka’s overthrow. The Belarus protests have nothing to do with Poland or any other EU…
As the protests in Belarus intensified, fakes about the unfolding events began spreading on social media. One Facebook account in particular began circulating a photo with tanks and other military hardware claiming the picture showed Russia transferring troops to the Belarus border through the city of Smolensk, some 369 kilometers west of Moscow. The photo is purported to have been taken on August 10, 2020. In fact the picture is…
Russian news sites as well as sites from the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics featured stories this week claiming that Americans have begun testing coronavirus drugs and vaccines on Ukrainian soldiers and the tests have already led to casualties. Six American virologists arrived in Ukraine to oversee the tests of these innovative drugs, claimed Rusvesna. The head of Ukraine’s Armed Forces Medical Service Corps media relations Oleksiy Mazepa refuted…
The Ukrainian segment of Facebook is teeming with information claiming that Turkish President Erdogan will issue free housing, health insurance and $300 monthly pensions to all citizens over 65. No such generous laws have been enacted in Turkey and President Erdogan has certainly not signed any into law. Official pensions will be adjusted for inflation however, based on the growth rate of pensions for civil servants amounting to roughly $104.…
The Ocean shipbuilding plant based in Mykolayiv is being cut down for scrap metal announced the Russian site Antifascist this week, fake news that was quickly picked up and further disseminated by Facebook. Neither Antifascist nor any of the Facebook reposts provide any evidence of the claim; they all cite a source from the Telegram social media site. Ocean’s management refutes this claim and says the plant is working, new…
Ukraine introduced a war tax in 2015. Is there still a country in the world where people pay for the killing of their own people, ask several Facebook trolls. Russia’s Federal News Agency meanwhile claims that there is no such thing as a war tax in Ukraine but the government is indeed poised to enact such a tax. Both claims are false, military fees or war taxes are a widespread…
