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6 February 2023

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COVID-19

Analysis COVID-19 In-depth 

Analysis: Experts say vaccines do not fuel COVID-19 variants or make humans more prone to infections

2 February 20232 February 2023 7 min read

A Wall Street Journal columnist misrepresented and neglected conclusions of scientific studies to support a hypothesis that repeated vaccinations could trigger rapid virus mutation.

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COVID-19 Misleading 

Misleading: Japanese study on mask hygiene does not support dropping mask mandate

25 January 202326 January 2023 3 min read

The 2022 study by researchers at an Osaka-based university actually recommends the hygienic use of masks and cautions people, especially those with immune issues, against repeated use of the same masks to avoid potentially pathogenic microbes that can grow on the surface.

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COVID-19 Misleading 

Misleading: Video shows Chengdu Marathon, not people taking PCR tests in China

4 December 2022 3 min read

The video actually shows marathon participants waiting for the start on Nov. 20, 2022.

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COVID-19 Misleading 

Misleading: Image of peacocks wrapped in cardboard has nothing to do with COVID-19 test

22 November 2022 2 min read

This photo was posted in March 2019, months before the pandemic began, when the birds were brought to the Yunnan Arts University in China.

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COVID-19 Fact check Misleading 

Misleading: Kids spacesuit is for celebrating China’s space mission, not for preventing COVID-19

21 November 202223 November 2022 3 min read

China successfully launched its Shenzhou-12 and 13 spacecraft in 2021. Many children wore spacesuit costumes at school’s sporting events that year.

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COVID-19 Fact check Misleading 

Misleading: This ‘eerie’ video does not show people following China’s strict COVID rules

18 November 202221 November 2022 3 min read

The video consists of two pieces of footage. One shows students wearing white raincoats, and the other shows construction workers building a makeshift hospital in Shanghai.

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COVID-19 誤導 中文 

誤導:媒體報道廣州封控示威誤用2017年清遠衝突短片

16 November 2022 1 min read

英國廣播公司、《衛報》、半島電視台等多個媒體報道廣州封控時,誤把一個5年前廣東清遠居民反對興建垃圾焚燒廠的示威片段,當成廣州市民示威場景。

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COVID-19 Misleading 

Misleading: This dark building is not where victims of fatal Guizhou bus accident lived

18 October 20221 November 2022 2 min read

All 45 passengers lived in another district. The misleading photo shows an unrelated building six kilometers away.

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COVID-19 誤導 中文 

误导:网传中国因出现“新冠阳性病例”致多人逃窜视频 实摄于美国嘉年华

17 October 202217 October 2022 0 min read

视频显示的是9月23日美国德克萨斯州一个嘉年华会,参加的人群因疑似出现枪击而四处逃窜。

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COVID-19 Misleading 

Misleading: Video shows panic at a US county fair, not COVID-19 scare in China

14 October 202217 October 2022 2 min read

Local reports say people ran in panic after a shooting scare at a travelling carnival in Texas on Sept. 23.

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蓋上「虛假」印章的封面圖片
COVID-19 虛假 中文 

虛假:復必泰供應範圍與猴痘病例並無關連

8 August 2022 0 min read

至截稿為止,今年已有88個國家已錄得猴痘案例,包括未獲供應復必泰的印度、俄羅斯及委內瑞拉。專家指猴痘與復必泰疫苗沒有關連。

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COVID-19 False 

False: Monkeypox has nothing to do with Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines

28 July 20228 August 2022 3 min read

Monkeypox has been reported in 77 countries including India, Russia, and Venezuela where the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is not available. Experts say there is no link between the two.

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Twitter上的虛假聲稱
COVID-19 虛假 中文 

虛假:安倍卸任無權處理分發疫苗 亦未批使用伊維菌素

22 July 2022 0 min read

安倍於日本推出新冠疫苗前已辭任首相;厚生勞動省宣佈因疫苗受污染,需要回收同批次的163萬劑莫德納疫苗;日本尚未批准使用伊維菌素治療新冠感染。

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"FALSE" stamped on screenshots of Twitter and Instagram posts
COVID-19 False 

False: Japan’s Abe did not oversee vaccine rollout or distribute ivermectin

18 July 202222 July 2022 4 min read

A widely shared conspiracy theory suggested Japan’s former prime minister was assassinated because he disobeyed the World Economic Forum. Annie Lab looked into three specific claims and found all of them unsubstantiated.

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COVID-19 誤導 中文 

誤導:上海未因鈔票帶病毒而停用自動櫃員機

5 July 202213 July 2022 0 min read

上海各銀行的服務自3月中封城一直暫停運作,但5月底開始已復業,自動櫃員機亦正常運作。

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COVID-19 Misleading 

Misleading: ATMs in Shanghai were never suspended over fears of virus-carrying banknotes

30 June 20225 July 2022 5 min read

Banking services in Shanghai were suspended during the lockdown from mid-March to the end of May 2022. In June, they were fully in operation.

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COVID-19 虛假 中文 

虛假:網傳抗疫人員嚎哭擺拍造假 實為抗疫劇拍攝花絮

23 June 2022 0 min read

經查證,短片是由內地抗疫劇集演員2020年上載至抖音的拍攝花絮。該演員指劇組已完成製作抗疫劇,但上映日期尚未落實。

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COVID-19 False 

False: This video in China shows anti-pandemic drama, not a staged ‘fake’ tragedy

21 June 202230 June 2022 4 min read

The clip has been traced to a Douyin account of one of the actors in the drama, posted in 2020.

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Analysis COVID-19 Misleading 

Analysis: Misleading claims about Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine safety for pregnancy

16 June 202220 June 2022 4 min read

Annie Lab looks into the supposed ‘evidence’ mentioned in a tweet that claims that the safety of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was determined based on lab tests on pregnant rats, not humans.

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COVID-19 In-depth Investigation Misleading 

Investigation: Misleading claims about masks and vaccines in Hong Kong’s 5th wave

25 May 202225 May 2022 12 min read

Annie Lab looks into an article about Hong Kong’s COVID-19 fifth wave published by a known anti-vaccine website in the United States.

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COVID-19 Fact check Misleading 

Misleading: People handcuffed outside hospital are suspected illegal immigrants

18 February 20224 June 2022 2 min read

The police told Annie Lab that seven men and 15 women were taken to the Pok Oi Hospital for COVID-19 nucleic acid testing recently.

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Featured image
COVID-19 False In-depth Investigation 

False: COVID-19 vaccines did not kill 29,939 people in Europe

7 January 20222 March 2022 5 min read

There is no established causal relationship between these deaths and vaccination.

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COVID-19 False 

False: This video does not show China using livestock transport trucks to move people to quarantine

23 November 2021 3 min read

The misleading video has been edited. A longer version shows the truck was evacuating people out of flooded roads.

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Screenshot of the tweet
Analysis COVID-19 In-depth 

Analysis: This quote does not indicate US authorities have not evaluated vaccine’s long-term effects on kids before approval

15 November 2021 7 min read

The seven-second clip, which was pulled from an eight-hour deliberation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel on the safety of vaccine usage in children aged 5-11, was devoid of context.

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Featured image
COVID-19 Fact check Misleading 

Misleading: This discussion on ‘China’s plot to weaken US troops with vaccines’ is not organized by the Communist Party but by US website

8 November 202115 November 2021 3 min read

The video is from a live broadcast of GTV, an online platform known for its anti-Communist Party stance and push for misinformation and conspiracy theories.

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COVID-19 Fact check Just in case 

Just in case: ‘Vaccination robot’ in this video is 3D computer graphics :)

4 November 20215 November 2021 2 min read

The CGI video was originally posted on May 30, 2021, by a TikTok creator specializing in visual effects.

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COVID-19 Fact check False 

False: This video does not show a man vandalizing ‘vaccine passport verification’ machines

15 October 202120 October 2021 3 min read

The video was taken in 2017. It shows an intoxicated man thrashing self check-in machines at the Incheon International Airport, according to a news report.

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COVID-19 False 

False: China’s double-dose COVID-19 vaccine vial is neither ‘fake’ nor ‘of different grade’

11 October 2021 2 min read

The new vaccine package was officially approved by medical authorities, according to a doctor from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention who spoke in a webinar in May.

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screenshot of the tweet
COVID-19 Fact check Verified 

Verified: This video shows protestors dancing at an anti-COVID restrictions demonstration in Netherlands

11 October 20215 November 2021 3 min read

The viral video shows people dancing to club music on the streets who were protesting against the social distancing restrictions and nightlife ban on Sept. 11.

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COVID-19 False 

False: This photo does not show ‘Australian protester’ with rubber bullet wounds; it shows a man in Argentina in 2015

5 October 20215 October 2021 2 min read

The photo shows a demonstrator in a labor dispute in Buenos Aires on Dec. 22, 2015, according to the Associated Press. It has nothing to do with the anti-vaccine mandate protests in Melbourne in September 2021.

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