“Shock hits Meru University students after a student is tested positive of coronavirus making it a second case of COVID-19,” reads what looks like a screenshot of a Facebook post by Kenya’s Citizen TV, posted on the social network on 16 March 2020.
“All students are urged to calm down as school management finds the solution towards the same.”
Kenya confirmed its first case of the new coronavirus on 13 March. By 18 March, the country had a total of seven confirmed cases.
Is the screenshot legit? We checked.
On 16 March, Citizen TV posted the screenshot on Facebook with “FAKE” stamped on it.
“Another day, another fake alert! Again, kindly ignore this post that is doing the rounds and avoid sharing it to stop creating panic,” the media house said.
Meru University has also dismissed the post as fake. – Dancan Bwire
“All students are urged to calm down as school management finds the solution towards the same.”
Kenya confirmed its first case of the new coronavirus on 13 March. By 18 March, the country had a total of seven confirmed cases.
Is the screenshot legit? We checked.
‘Ignore this post’
On 16 March, Citizen TV posted the screenshot on Facebook with “FAKE” stamped on it.
“Another day, another fake alert! Again, kindly ignore this post that is doing the rounds and avoid sharing it to stop creating panic,” the media house said.
Meru University has also dismissed the post as fake. – Dancan Bwire
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.
Add new comment