Tag Archives: FACT

A Facebook post sharing two photos of a young boy with cuts and bruises on his face claims he was “found walking behind a home” in Hartlepool. But this is a hoax. 

The post, which appears in a local community group says: “This little boy approximately 3 years old was found last night walking behind a home here in #hartlepool Officer Sam Jenson saved him and took him to the Police Station but no one has an idea where he lives, the neighbours don’t know him or how he got there. He says his mom’s name is Ella. Let’s flood our feeds so that this post may reach his family, thank you.”

This did not happen. 

For one thing, Cleveland Police, who are responsible for Hartlepool in County Durham, told Full Fact that the force does not have an officer by this name. 

And…

An image circulating on social media claims to show US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s communist party membership card. But the picture is fake and was likely created using an online communist party card generator.

One post on X, formerly Twitter, has been viewed more than 60,000 times and is captioned “Communist Party Kamala? Say it ain’t so Joe.” The image includes some printed text claiming Ms Harris received the Communist Party of the Soviet Union ‘document’ in 1984, and that the New York Times reported on the communist party credential. The picture has also been shared on Facebook. 

But the membership card has the same number (04094064), stamp and payment record as a template on a website which allows people to…

A claim being shared online that the US state of Texas has declared bringing an LGBTQ pride flag into a school classroom a “crime” originates from a satirical news article.

Posts sharing the claim on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook—sometimes include a link to a page with a full story and other versions have a screenshot including the headline: “It’s Official: Texas Declares Bringing a Pride Flag to the Classroom a Crime.”

Many of the accounts posting or commenting on it on social media appear to believe it is a genuine policy.

The website it originates from tags the article under ‘satire’. It reports that the bill is titled “The Classroom Sanctity Act”. We can find no evidence that a bill of this name or nature has been tabled or approved by…

A video shared on social media with claims it shows Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system failing to intercept a Hezbollah drone actually shows a Ukrainian drone targeting an oil refinery in Tuapse, Russia, earlier this year. 

One post on X, formerly Twitter, is captioned: “Video shows Israel’s Iron Dome failing to intercept Hezbollah’s drone as it makes its way to pound a regime’s power plant in northern occupied territories.” 

The video has also been shared on Facebook, sometimes with the caption “a Hezbollah drone reaches oil refineries in northern occupied Palestine”.

But the video shared with these claims is not recent, and does not show a Hezbollah drone attack. The video actually shows a Ukrainian drone striking a Russian oil refinery in Tuapse,…

A video being shared on social media with claims it shows recent footage of Israeli tanks being moved north from Gaza to the Lebanese border is almost a year old, and actually shows tanks moving to Re’im in southern Israel in the aftermath of the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel.

Posts being shared on X, formerly Twitter, and Facebook, say the video shows “new tanks that were recently in training in Gaza are now heading to the north as part of Division 98, the elite division of the IDF”. Other versions have the caption: “IDF’s 98th Ha’Esh Division completes arrival at Lebanese border from Gaza Strip”.

Israel has reportedly moved its 98th division to the country’s north, on the border with Lebanon, in recent days due to heightened tensions with the armed group…