Misleading: This Beijing air pollution image is old and digitally manipulated
A manipulated version of a 2008 sandstorm photo was falsely linked to a bad air day in Beijing on March 10
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annie lab
@HKU School of Future Media
Fact check
Misleading: Idea of discouraging rural children from attending university was raised 12 years ago
The old remarks by a delegate of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference were falsely associated with this year’s parliamentary sessions.
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Misleading: This image is six years old; Zhu Rongji did clap for Xi Jinping at the 2017 party congress
A misleading tweet implied Zhu did not applaud Xi at the annual assembly in March, although Zhu has not been seen at any major party functions for more than five years. Also, the image was taken after Zhu stopped clapping in 2017.
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Just in case: Scientists revived only non-threatening ‘zombie viruses’
A study found ancient viruses frozen for tens of thousands of years in the Arctic permafrost could become health risks; however, researchers did not “reawaken” such dangerous viruses in the process.
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False: Tea culture event falsely described as ‘enslavement’ of black people in China
The black women seen picking tea leaves in the video are international students attending a tea-harvesting event in Jiangxi province.
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Misleading: These Weibo GIFs do not show Russia dropping a ‘small nuclear bomb’
A Chinese blogger posted images that have nothing to do with the Russian attack on Bakhmut, Ukraine. Annie Lab found no evidence of FAB-3000 dropped on the city.
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False: This manipulated video has nothing to do with admission of HIV-positive students
An irrelevant audio clip was added to falsify a vice-chancellor’s speech at Lanzhou University in 2021
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Misleading: Video of prominent factories closure in China includes plants that are still in business
Two of the four factories are still operating, while the other two were reportedly shut down for losses incurred before the pandemic.
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Misleading: This trash mountain is located in Indonesia, not China
The viral video shows one of the world’s largest landfills in Bantar Gebang in Bekasi on the outskirts of Jakarta in Indonesia.
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Misleading: This video uses green screen; it does not show ‘Chinese military suits’
A five-year-old “invisibility cloak” video was falsely linked to some “new technologies” developed in China or Japan, but it actually shows a simple chroma key post-production effect.
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