“Abortion drugs discovered in Bill Gates’ vaccines,” declares an image posted on Facebook. “Secret sterilisation program discovered in Africa.” The image seems to be screenshot of a news article published in 2017. It continues: “Unicef, the World Health Organization, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have been accused of secretly sterilising millions of women… Read more »
Kenya’s opposition is whipping up public sentiment against tetanus vaccination. What’s in it for them?
An old rumour that a tetanus vaccine causing infertility in women is resurfacing, this time in West Africa. Vinayak Bhardwaj explains – as many others have over the last 20 years – why this claim is false and why it’s important to keep debunking it.
Two claims about South Africa’s ability to manufacture and develop vaccines.
Source: South African president Cyril Ramaphosa (12 July 2020)
One correct, one mostly correct.
Social media can be an open highway for false information. Dancan Bwire and Grace Gichuhi, researchers from our Nairobi office, look back on a year of exposing quacks, liars and fraudsters for Facebook’s third-party fact-checking programme.
Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger is a political adviser and diplomat who influenced the USA’s national security and foreign policy from the 1950s to the 1980s. Over the years he has given many speeches on the international stage, which can be read on his website. Now a meme circulating on Facebook claims that… Read more »
As Africa Check founder Peter Cunliffe-Jones steps down as executive director, he reflects on how the misinformation landscape has changed in recent years, and argues for a more holistic approach to tackling false claims.
An article claiming flu vaccines cause cancer has been racking up Facebook shares in Kenya. First published in February 2018, the article on Neon Nettle claims a “top doctor” named John Bergman “has revealed the influenza vaccinations being used to combat the latest H3N2 strain are virtually ineffective and being forced onto the public through… Read more »
Is a vaccine against whooping cough the “most likely triggering cause” of microcephaly in Brazilian babies? US fact-checking site Politifact couldn’t find a shred of evidence to support this claim.
No record of Mandela saying ‘it always seems impossible until it’s done’ Do 80% of S. Africans regularly consult traditional healers? The claim is unproven Did a Christian prophet challenge lions to a fight in the Kruger National Park? FACTSHEET: Nigeria’s latest meningitis outbreak – a disaster foretold? ANALYSIS: Why does an old, false claim… Read more »