IN SHORT: A Facebook post falsely claims that the Ugandan government has agreed to allow pupils to form romantic relationships. But the evidence presented as proof was manipulated.
“Govt allows coupling in high schools,” reads the caption of what appears to be a screengrab of a video from Uganda's English-language New Vision newspaper.
The image shared on Facebook shows Janet Museveni, Uganda's minister of education, with others at what appears to be a public event.
Coupling in Ugandan high schools refers to students forming romantic relationships, which is often seen as disruptive to both academic focus and general discipline. Some schools in Kampala, Uganda's capital, have seen an increase in these relationships, especially in the years following the Covid lockdowns. The country had one of the longest lockdowns in the world.
Increased exposure to social media and unsupervised time at home during this period is thought to have contributed to this trend. Schools are responding by offering counselling and working closely with parents to curb this behaviour and reinforce discipline.
Many schools have strict policies prohibiting romantic relationships between students. Violations of these policies can result in punishments ranging from suspension to indefinite expulsion.
This claim has also been posted on Facebook here and here. (Note: See more instances at the end of the report.)
But did New Vision really report this? We checked.
Doctored screengrab
A Google reverse image search revealed that the screenshot in circulation had been doctored.
The real video, which came from New Vision, was titled “Govt allows mobile gadgets in schools” and featured the same people.
However, the doctored image changed the original headline, misleading viewers about the content of the video.
On 31 August 2024, the New Vision flagged the video as fake.
The publication said: “FAKE POST ALERT! Please disregard the false information in image 1, as it did not originate from the New Vision TV YouTube channel. The original post is shown below. You can view the official content here: https://youtu.be/ii6-e45_EUM?si=5ZNfLfYthnCL-6P-…. #VisionUpdates.”
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.
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