A 2018 article on satirical website World News Daily Report about the arrest of a zookeeper has been flagged as false on Facebook.
The story says zookeeper Akimbo Obwe’bwe from San Diego was arrested after trying to molest a 500-pound male gorilla.
According to the article, the zookeeper, “was found guilty of feeding sedatives to Big George, one of the zoo’s top attractions, and partaking in sexual activity with the sedated animal”.
A reverse image search reveals that the photo of the unidentified man used in the story began making the rounds on social media as early as January 2010. Then, it had nothing to do with the allegations in the 2018 story. Besides, the image used in the story is visibly edited.
The photo of the gorilla, which the story captions as “Big George, one of San Diego Zoo’s top attractions, being sexually assaulted” is in fact Shabani, a gorilla in Japan that the BBC and Daily Mail reported as having attracted the attention of Japanese women for his “good looks”.
But as fact checked by Snopes and Lead Stories, World News Daily Report is known for its satirical and fictitious content.
The site’s slogan is clear on the type of content readers should expect. It treads “where facts don't matter”.
It backs this up with a disclaimer at the bottom of each page.
“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.”
But that hasn’t stopped some blogs from picking up the story and reporting it as real.– Dancan Bwire
The story says zookeeper Akimbo Obwe’bwe from San Diego was arrested after trying to molest a 500-pound male gorilla.
According to the article, the zookeeper, “was found guilty of feeding sedatives to Big George, one of the zoo’s top attractions, and partaking in sexual activity with the sedated animal”.
Photos taken from different sources
A reverse image search reveals that the photo of the unidentified man used in the story began making the rounds on social media as early as January 2010. Then, it had nothing to do with the allegations in the 2018 story. Besides, the image used in the story is visibly edited.
The photo of the gorilla, which the story captions as “Big George, one of San Diego Zoo’s top attractions, being sexually assaulted” is in fact Shabani, a gorilla in Japan that the BBC and Daily Mail reported as having attracted the attention of Japanese women for his “good looks”.
Satirical news site
But as fact checked by Snopes and Lead Stories, World News Daily Report is known for its satirical and fictitious content.
The site’s slogan is clear on the type of content readers should expect. It treads “where facts don't matter”.
It backs this up with a disclaimer at the bottom of each page.
“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.”
But that hasn’t stopped some blogs from picking up the story and reporting it as real.– 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.
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