Latest fact checks & sources

Russian media and Telegram channels are distributing a video in which Ukrainian soldiers allegedly stopped a woman with a child because she did not give way to them. As evidence, they provide a segment from the video recorder in the woman’s car. The soldiers then allegedly started yelling at the woman, cursing her, threatening her with guns and shooting in the air because she was speaking to them in Russian. In fact, this video is staged, it was filmed in the occupied territory of the Donetsk region, where there are no Ukrainian troops.

The Russian media quotes a Kremlin protege of the people’s militia in the so-called “LPR” that women who have an education in chemistry, biology or veterinary medicine are allegedly being recruited for the war in Ukraine. The publication adds that in this way Ukraine is preparing for “provocations” with chemical weapons. This is a fake. There is no convincing evidence that women are being recruited into the Armed Forces of Ukraine to prepare “provocations” with chemical weapons.

Mārtiņš Staķis did not promise to close the Mikhail Chekhov Russian Drama Theater in Riga.

Does Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky actually have a secret talent for belly dancing? That’s what a number of accounts on Twitter and TikTok are saying, with video to prove it. However, it turns out that the viral video is actually a deepfake that’s been circulated by pro-Russian accounts in an attempt to discredit the Ukrainian president.

Pro-Russian social media users have been widely circulating what looks like a Euronews report showing French farmers dumping manure outside the Ukrainian embassy. French farmers began protesting for better pay in January and the video claims that the farmers took the drastic manure action after the Ukrainian ambassador penned a letter asking them to stop their protests. But this video is fake. It’s one of a series of fake news reports aimed at making Ukraine look bad in the eyes of the West.

Since news broke on February 16, 2024 that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny had died while incarcerated in the Russian Arctic, there has been a resurgence of doctored images and fake news aiming to discredit Navalny and his family. We took a look at three of the most widely spread fake news items about Navalny. None of them are true.

A number of Russian Telegram channels have been sharing a caricature of French President Emmanuel Macron depicted as a rooster, claiming that it was broadcast by FRANCE 24 in a programme that aired on March 13. However, the image circulating is a doctored version of the cover of a French magazine called L’Hémicycle. The FRANCE 24 clip has also been doctored to include it.

The creators of the disinformation claiming Ukraine plotted to assassinate Tucker Carlson did not intend for it to be used inside Russia: they designed it specifically to target U.S. audiences. That is evident from the fact that no major Russian state-controlled news outlets reported the “breaking news” about the alleged plot despite their weeks-long fixation on every minor detail of Carlson’s visit to Moscow.

OpenAI has announced that it disrupted covert influence campaigns originating from Russia, China, Israel and Iran.

A study published in the journal, Nature, by researchers has shown that most prominent brands are inadvertently funding online misinformation. 

NewsGuard said it has identified over 900 Unreliable AI-generated news and information websites labeled “UAINS”.

Fact-checkers have called on the public to support fact-checking community globally as they face increasing hostility, online threats etc.

Stakeholders at GlobalFact 11 have criticised tech platforms for their insufficient efforts in combating misinformation and disinformation globally.

The United States has uncovered an AI-powered information operation run from Russia involving about 1,000 accounts posing as Americans.

A new report has uncovered how 41 TikTok accounts are using AI-generated narration to disseminate political misinformation at scale.

A new study by the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) has identified four important steps in mitigating digital threats to elections.

Dutch researchers have revealed that coordinated networks of accounts spreading disinformation flooded social media in France, Germany and Italy before the elections to the European Parliament.

A new report from the blockchain analytics firm, Chainalysis, has shown that cryptocurrency is being used to finance and facilitate disinformation campaigns globally.

It is essential to instill critical thinking skills in children to help them navigate internet safely and avoid spreading false information.

A recent survey has revealed that 58 per cent of adults in the United States have been deceived by misinformation generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI).