Andrew Dudfield from UK fact-checking charity Full Fact explains how a team of fact-checking organisations is developing artificial intelligence tools to increase the speed and impact of fact-checking.
Tag: data
South Africa has more than 800 ICU beds – but exactly how many is unclear
Claim
South Africa has only 800 ICU beds in the whole country.
Source: WhatsApp message (2020)
incorrect
Verdict
The data is hard to come by, but there are far more than 800 ICU beds in the public and private health system.
No evidence that 40% of medicines sold in Africa are fake
Claim
“40% of the medicines sold in Africa are fake.”
Source: A Twitter user (21 January 2020)
unproven
Verdict
This statistic is often attributed to the WHO. But the agency says while it did find that 42% of the medicines reported to it between 2013 and 2017 were fake, this data does not represent the situation in Africa.
Blog post: ANALYSIS: Poor data on suicide leaves Kenya groping in the dark for answers
There are penalties in Kenyan law for attempting suicide, leading to low disclosure to authorities. But this is only one reason for the country’s acute lack of suicide data.
checked
Nairobi’s water supply: 2 claims about losses & high prices in slums evaluated
Is nearly half of capital city’s water lost and do inhabitants of slums pay much more for water than those in swanky apartments? We judged two of governor Mike Sonko’s claims about Nairobi’s water supply
mostly-correct
Do just 700,000 public workers gobble up half of Kenya’s taxes, as Ruto said?
Kenya’s civil servant pay levels continue to attract national debate. Is the situation as bad as the deputy president recently depicted?
checked
The presidential debate that wasn’t: Did Kenya’s Odinga get his facts straight?
Despite being much-anticipated, Kenya’s presidential frontrunners kept the country guessing whether they would pitch for a debate broadcast live . We examined 3 claims by the main candidate who did.
incorrect
Are 30 of Nigeria’s 36 states behind on pension payouts?
For decades, the plight of retired people in Nigeria has been dire. Pensioners have died while queueing for their cheques while many don’t receive them at all. Are most of Nigeria’s states presently indebted to retirees, as a union official said?
incorrect
Are 70% of Kenyans who can work jobless? Union chief mangles numbers
Unemployment remains a challenge to most African governments. Kenya’s no less, but debating solutions should rest on accurate information.
incorrect
Is suicide the 3rd leading cause of death for South Africans aged 15-24?
A South African community newspaper has claimed only car accidents and murder kill more young people in the country. The data doesn’t support the claim.