Claim: Julian Assange said Donald Trump can prevent World War III from happening. Assange allegedly made this statement shortly after Iran attacked Israel on the night of 13 April. Fact: Assange did not make any such statement. In an interview, from 11 years ago, he commented on the war in Afghanistan. Nowhere in the clip […]
Claim: An image shows a nuclear bomb test conducted in Balochistan in 1998. Fact: The picture shows a nuclear bomb test in Yucca Flat, Nevada in 1951, when the USA carried out a series of atmospheric bomb tests during the Cold War. On 28 May 2024, X user @KhalidaBaloch02 posted (archived) a picture apparently showing […]
Claim: An image shows people taking shelter at the Kharkiv metro station, allegedly during the Russian bombing on 26 May 2024. Fact: The image is not recent. It does show people taking shelter at the Kharkiv metro station but the picture is from two years ago when Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in February […]
Claim: A picture shows Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Geoffrey Onyeama standing with a Palestinian official, in April 2024, to show support for Palestine in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Fact: The picture shows Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Geoffrey Onyeama receiving Italian ambassador to Nigeria in May 2022. On 14 April 2024, Threads […]
Claim: Footage aired during Adil Shahzeb’s show shows Iran’s missile and drone attack on Israel. Fact: The footage used is not connected to Iran’s 13 April attacks on Israel. The video is from the Turkish-Syria war in Idlib in 2020 when the conflict reached its peak. On 15 April, Adil Shahzeb’s show aired misleading footage […]
Claim: An image on X shows China’s recent military drills near Taiwan. Fact: The photograph is by Reuters’ photographer Carlos Garcia Rawlins, and it shows Taiwan’s navy conducting a drill as a display of power in January 2024. On 24 May 2024, X user @Osint613 posted (archived) posted, “…the drills with China surrounding Taiwan are […]
Claim: Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi arrives safely in Tabriz amid news that his helicopter has crashed, according to an Iranian news agency. Fact: On 20 May Iran’s President, Ebrahim Raisi was confirmed dead hours after his helicopter crashed in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. On 19 May, Threads user @starterpakistan claimed (archived) that “Mehr News Agency […]
Claim: Russian President Vladimir Putin posted a video on X saying that countries would choose sides after World War III starts. Fact: The now-deleted X account was a Putin parody account. Further, the video with the post has been shared out of context. On 14 April, X user @Brics_Dolllar, a verified parody account of Putin […]
Claim: Cosmic rays from outer space will enter Earth between 12:30 am and 3:30 am, around the time of the solar eclipse, and harm human bodies through digital devices. Fact: No scientific evidence exists that cosmic rays can pass through digital devices and harm human bodies. This false claim has circulated online time and again […]
Claim: A video shows Palestinians celebrating Iran’s 13 April attack on Israel at the al-Aqsa mosque Fact: The video does not show Palestinians celebrating Iran’s retaliatory drone attack on Israel. In fact, the video is from a week before the attacks, the last Friday of Ramazan, a day that is observed throughout the Muslim world […]
Claim: Footage shows Iran firing a salvo of Grad rockets at Israel. Fact: The video is a decade old, and possibly shows a scene from the eastern Ukraine conflict in 2014. It has nothing to do with the recent retaliatory attacks by Iran on Israel. On 15 April 2023, Threads user @nouman_mustafa7890 shared a video […]
Claim: Photos of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei crying, show his reaction to receiving news of Israel’s recent attack on Iran’s embassy in Syria. Fact: The pictures are old and have been shared in a misleading context on X. They actually show Khamenei crying on two separate occasions in the past. On 2 April […]