“Babysitter transported to hospital after inserting a baby in her vagina,” reads an article shared on Facebook in Kenya.
Published on World News Daily Report on 16 September 2018, the article claims the woman, from the US state of Ohio, confessed to “deliberately inserting the child in her vaginal cavity” because she “wanted to know how it felt to give birth”.
The article was flagged as possibly false by Facebook’s fact-checking system.
The story is not true. But it’s also not intended to mislead. It’s an openly made-up piece of fiction that’s meant to be a joke, loosely qualifying it for the rating of satire.
World News Daily Report’s tagline is: “Where the facts don’t matter.”
Each page of the site carries a disclaimer:
“World News Daily Report assumes all responsibility for the satirical nature of its articles and for the fictional nature of their content. All characters appearing in the articles in this website – even those based on real people – are entirely fictional and any resemblance between them and any person, living, dead or undead, is purely a miracle.” – Africa Check
Further reading:
https://africacheck.org/fbcheck/no-elderly-couple-didnt-burn-down-house-after-flamethrower-sex-game/
https://africacheck.org/fbcheck/no-world-record-not-broken-with-woman-giving-birth-to-17-babies-from-one-pregnancy/
https://africacheck.org/fbcheck/teenager-beaten-up-by-cops-after-bank-teller-mistook-erection-for-pistol-no-story-false/
Published on World News Daily Report on 16 September 2018, the article claims the woman, from the US state of Ohio, confessed to “deliberately inserting the child in her vaginal cavity” because she “wanted to know how it felt to give birth”.
The article was flagged as possibly false by Facebook’s fact-checking system.
‘Fictional content’
The story is not true. But it’s also not intended to mislead. It’s an openly made-up piece of fiction that’s meant to be a joke, loosely qualifying it for the rating of satire.
World News Daily Report’s tagline is: “Where the facts don’t matter.”
Each page of the site carries a disclaimer:
“World News Daily Report assumes all responsibility for the satirical nature of its articles and for the fictional nature of their content. All characters appearing in the articles in this website – even those based on real people – are entirely fictional and any resemblance between them and any person, living, dead or undead, is purely a miracle.” – Africa Check
Further reading:
https://africacheck.org/fbcheck/no-elderly-couple-didnt-burn-down-house-after-flamethrower-sex-game/
https://africacheck.org/fbcheck/no-world-record-not-broken-with-woman-giving-birth-to-17-babies-from-one-pregnancy/
https://africacheck.org/fbcheck/teenager-beaten-up-by-cops-after-bank-teller-mistook-erection-for-pistol-no-story-false/
For publishers: what to do if your post is rated false
A fact-checker has rated your Facebook or Instagram post as “false”, “altered”, “partly false” or “missing context”. This could have serious consequences. What do you do?
Click on our guide for the steps you should follow.
Publishers guideAfrica Check teams up with Facebook
Africa Check is a partner in Meta's third-party fact-checking programme to help stop the spread of false information on social media.
The content we rate as “false” will be downgraded on Facebook and Instagram. This means fewer people will see it.
You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.
Further Reading
[email protected]: The challenges of working across Africa
Misinformation knows no borders and Africa Check often responds to similar false claims from country to country.
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