A story published on a number of Nigerian news sites and shared several times on Facebook claims former US president Barack Obama has declared his intention to run for president of Kenya in 2021.
One version of the story says this development will “re-write global history and upset African political setting”.
It’s stirred debate among Nigerians on Facebook. But is it true?
Such political developments are usually well-reported by international news media. But we checked and no credible news site in and outside Nigeria published the report.
Obama’s Twitter timeline, where he’s made big announcements in the past, had no trace of any intent to participate in Kenyan politics.
In fact, the story can be traced to the junk news website World News Daily Report, which admits to publishing satirical and fictional content.
Each page of the site carries this disclaimer: “WNDR assumes, however, 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 persons, living, dead, or undead is purely a miracle.”
The original story is fiction, and barely qualifies as satire. And satire reused as real news, with no signal that it’s satire, becomes disinformation. – Allwell Okpi
One version of the story says this development will “re-write global history and upset African political setting”.
It’s stirred debate among Nigerians on Facebook. But is it true?
No trace on credible websites, Obama’s channels
Such political developments are usually well-reported by international news media. But we checked and no credible news site in and outside Nigeria published the report.
Obama’s Twitter timeline, where he’s made big announcements in the past, had no trace of any intent to participate in Kenyan politics.
Copied from a ‘fictional’ website
In fact, the story can be traced to the junk news website World News Daily Report, which admits to publishing satirical and fictional content.
Each page of the site carries this disclaimer: “WNDR assumes, however, 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 persons, living, dead, or undead is purely a miracle.”
The original story is fiction, and barely qualifies as satire. And satire reused as real news, with no signal that it’s satire, becomes disinformation. – Allwell Okpi
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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