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2 February 2023

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False

The claim is demonstrably false. The photo/video has been doctored. Stories investigate factual validity of the claim and/or the authenticity of photo/video.

Screenshot of the Reddit post and the manipulated image
Fact check False 

False: Image of white man with ‘Black Lives Matter’ flag standing on the back of two Black people is digitally manipulated

8 November 2021 3 min read

The “Black Lives Matter” flag is taken from another photo and was added to what appears to be an older tourist image.

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Fact check False 

False: This video does not show Chinese police ‘kidnapping’ a Uyghur girl in Xinjiang

8 November 20218 November 2021 4 min read

It actually shows an officer trying to protect the girl from a bike coming at her. The video was taken in Suining, Sichuan, not in Xinjiang.

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False 

False: This vulgar message targeting Biden in US stadium is digitally altered

3 November 2021 3 min read

The original message reads “Home of the 12th Man” in reference to a Texas A&M tradition.

Read
Fact check False 

False: ‘Falling dust,’ mobile phones and haircut do not prove Chinese astronauts are not in space

26 October 20213 July 2022 3 min read

An expert said dust particles may appear in space due to ambient air activity. Mobile phones can also work as internet access in space is made possible through satellite communication.

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Screenshot of the tweet and the manipulated image
Fact check False 

False: Image of US Army general receiving a Huawei phone from a Chinese general is manipulated

20 October 20218 November 2021 3 min read

The image is a composite of multiple pictures. Each person, the flags, and the gift box are all taken from different photos.

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False 

False: This video does not show ‘disguised suicide’ in China; it shows a man falling off a building in Russia

19 October 202122 October 2021 3 min read

The 26-year-old man was pushed from the sixth floor on Aug. 15, 2021.

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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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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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Featured Image with Label
False 

False: This headline has been altered. China did not claim the Communist Party fought against ‘99%’ of the invading Japanese army

5 October 202119 October 2021 2 min read

The original article in the Nan Guo Morning Post (南国早报) puts it at 60 percent.

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Analysis False In-depth Misleading Verified 

Analysis: Social media posts about Afghanistan — From False to Verified

25 August 202126 August 2021 7 min read

In this article, Annie Lab delves into three unverified social media content about Afghanistan in turmoil

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False 

False: Photo of woman “leading a luxurious life in Afghanistan under US control” is old, showing a Pakistani businesswoman in Lahore

20 August 202120 August 2021 1 min read

The woman is a Pakistani female entrepreneur, Aleena Raza. The photo was taken in 2014 in Lahore, Pakistan.

Read
COVID-19 False 

False: 60 percent of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the UK did not develop serious or critical conditions ‘due to vaccination’

12 August 202122 August 2021 3 min read

The Chinese tweet with the false claim was posted after the British expert corrected his misspoken statistics. Similar claims in English were also debunked by fact-checking organizations before the post was made.

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False 

False: Olympics medal table with China on top is neither official nor authentic

10 August 20216 April 2022 4 min read

Misleading medal tables that show China with the most number of golds are doctored images.

Read
COVID-19 False Investigation 

Investigation: A group of doctors spreading misleading claims about COVID-19 vaccines

5 August 20216 August 2021 4 min read

Annie Lab looks into an anti-vaccine group that has frequently disseminated misinformation about COVID-19 since February.

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Feature Image
COVID-19 False 

False: German scientist did not say vaccination caused the delta variant in a recent conference

30 July 20214 August 2021 3 min read

Karl Lauterbach, a German epidemiologist and also a politician, did not make any statement that links inoculation to the origins of the delta variant in a COVID-19 conference on June 21.

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False 

False: A whale and crocodiles in floodwaters digitally added; images not taken in China, either

27 July 202113 August 2021 6 min read

The photos and videos of flooded cities were taken in Mexico and Russia. The animals added in post-production are old images.

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COVID-19 False 

False: COVID-19 vaccines do not make you magnetic

23 July 20215 August 2021 2 min read

Various social media posts suggest human bodies became magnetic following COVID-19 vaccination. Experts say that is simply impossible.

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Feature Image
False 

False: No office property damaged or street blocked during the eviction of Hong Kong University Students’ Union

22 July 20214 August 2021 3 min read

The false claim also featured two old photos taken in 2019 at the height of the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill movement.

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False 

False: The Hong Kong University Students’ Union Building has not been demolished

19 July 202120 July 2021 2 min read

The building is still standing on campus and can be freely entered. No plan was announced to knock it down after the Union moves out of the building.

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False 

False: Video of Chinese astronauts standing straight in space does not imply it is fake

13 July 202115 July 2021 3 min read

Multiple news reports and videos show their legs are attached to foot restraints to keep them in upright position.

Read
COVID-19 False 

False: These CT images of lungs do not link vaping disease to COVID-19

12 July 202119 July 2021 4 min read

Ground-glass opacity is a common manifestation of lung injury. It does not imply any link between COVID-19 and vaping disease.

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COVID-19 False 

False: India’s ‘Health Ministry spokesperson’ did not die of COVID-19 vaccination

2 July 2021 2 min read

Subramanian Swaminathan is the director of Infectious Diseases and Infection Control at Gleneagles Global Hospitals, not a ministry spokesperson. He appeared in multiple interviews after he was vaccinated. The claim appears to originate from a deliberate mistranslation.

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Japanese Prime Minister Suga's speech with fabricated subtitles
COVID-19 False 

False: Japanese prime minister did not say India will get medals for not coming to the Olympics

18 June 202127 July 2021 3 min read

The Chinese translation of Suga’s speech was fabricated. It has nothing to do with the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.

Read
COVID-19 False 

False: This photo is altered. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen did not kneel before US senators

18 June 20212 June 2022 5 min read

The image was manipulated to add Tsai Ing-wen’s lower legs. A video from the same scene shows her talking to the US senators while standing.

Read
Analysis COVID-19 False In-depth 

Analysis: None of the eight claims about Fauci’s emails revealing COVID-19 ‘secrets’ is accurate

17 June 202115 July 2021 5 min read

A social media post claims Fauci’s emails show he had known lockdowns were unnecessary and that asymptomatic people could not spread COVID-19, but a review of the emails tells otherwise.

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False 

False: This simulation video does not show Japan’s treated water from Fukushima ‘polluting half of the Pacific ocean in 57 days’

25 May 202125 May 2021 3 min read

The video is nine years old and has nothing to do with Japan’s plan. The clip has also been cropped to make the covered area in the ocean appear bigger than in the original video. The speed of spreading is accelerated.

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False image showing Yang Jiechi bowing to Mike Pompeo
False 

False: This 2018 photo of China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi used in media reports is manipulated

4 May 20215 May 2021 5 min read

The image showing Chinese senior diplomat Yang Jiechi bowing to then U.S. State Secretary Mike Pompeo in a meeting in Beijing on Oct. 8, 2018 has been doctored. The original picture shows both diplomats facing the camera, standing up straight.

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False 

False: Images of Greta Thunberg’s ‘weight gain’ are digitally manipulated

21 April 202119 October 2021 3 min read

Multiple social media posts imply Swedish climate activist Thunberg has gained weight. However, they are digitally manipulated. Her face appears much smaller in the original photos.

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Title Image for Myanmar Molotov story
False 

False: These images do not show Myanmar soldiers setting Chinese-owned factories ablaze

20 April 2021 5 min read

The photo showing a Myanmar soldier holding a Molotov cocktail is manipulated. The original image is about an anti-coup demonstration in the northwestern town of Kalay, Myanmar on March 2, which has nothing to do with the burning of Chinese-owned factories on March 14.

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Annie Lab newsroom is a fact-checking project at HKU Journalism, in collaboration with ANNIE, a not-for-profit educational organization that promotes news literacy in Asia through collaborative curriculum development.

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