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2 June 2023

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Misleading

The claim is accompanied by non-altered evidence but it is used out of context or in a demonstrably misleading way. The key evidence may be fact-based, but the claim and information associated with the evidence are not true.

Misleading 

Misleading: Apple and Google Maps have been calling Taiwan a “province” for years, not just after Pelosi’s visit

16 August 2022 1 min read

The controversy surrounding Taiwan’s status on the two maps goes back for more than a decade.

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Fact check Misleading 

Misleading: These videos have nothing to do with recent wildfires or climate change

2 August 202212 August 2022 5 min read

Annie Lab looked into two video clips claiming wildfires are manmade, which also implied climate change is not real.

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Fact check Misleading 

Misleading: Video does not show celebrations after Italian PM’s resignation

25 July 202227 July 2022 3 min read

The first half of the video shows a 2021 mass protest in Rome against a vaccine pass mandate. The second half features a taxi drivers’ demonstration against a bill related to ride-hailing services.

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Fact check Misleading 

Misleading: Video does not show fire in Vatican City

21 July 202229 July 2022 2 min read

The fire took place more than 10 kilometers away from the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. It reportedly started in an archaeological park in an area called Centocelle in eastern Rome.

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Fact check Misleading 

Misleading: Image sequence reversed to make watermelons appear stolen from Abe’s memorial

18 July 202221 July 2022 3 min read

Annie Lab reached out to a journalist who also took photos of the roadside memorial around the same time. The two slices of watermelon were placed later than the flowers on the ground.

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Fact check Misleading 

Analysis: Viral social media posts about Dutch farmers’ protests

15 July 202212 August 2022 6 min read

Annie Lab investigated two images used in misleading social media posts about the ongoing farmers’ protests in the Netherlands.

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Misleading 

Misleading: Video shows a rescue robot in Japan, not Communist Party’s ‘corpse picker’

14 July 202210 January 2023 2 min read

The Japanese rescue robot is called Robocue. The Tokyo Fire Department introduced it in 2009.

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Misleading 

Misleading: Although CO2 facilitates plant growth, excessive amount could be harmful as well

13 July 20226 September 2022 4 min read

Experts say increased carbon dioxide impacts the natural ecosystem as a whole. The science of climate change has advanced since the 1920 experiment mentioned in the misleading tweet.

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Misleading 

Misleading: Photo of litter-filled street does not show the aftermath of climate protest in Netherlands

6 July 20228 July 2022 3 min read

The photo has nothing to do with the protest. It shows a trashed area outside the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam before the concert of singer Billie Eilish.

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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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Misleading 

Misleading: Boris Johnson took off his shoes out of respect, not because they are broken

27 June 202228 June 2022 2 min read

The image shows the British premier following Indian custom before entering the Gandhi Ashram during his visit to India on April 21, 2022.

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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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Misleading 

Misleading: Video shows violent dispute in Guangdong, not recent assault in Tangshan

14 June 202217 June 2022 2 min read

The video was taken in the city of Lianjiang in Guangdong on Feb. 20, 2021. It has nothing to do with the violent attack on four women in a restaurant in Tangshan on June 10, 2022.

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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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Fact check Misleading 

Misleading: Pope Francis was not holding a Ukrainian flag with Nazi symbol

27 April 202227 April 2022 3 min read

The flag shows the symbol of the uprising in Kyiv in 2014 known as the Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine.

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Fact check Misleading 

Misleading: Photo in Malaysia was used to illustrate Swatch craze in Hong Kong

31 March 202231 March 2022 3 min read

Hundreds of people indeed waited outside the stores across the city, but the photo shows a long queue at a shopping mall in Malaysia.

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Fact check Misleading 

Misleading: ‘Shirtless Putin on a panda’ image was not used by the Economist

25 March 20228 July 2022 3 min read

The image is one of the mock-up designs explored by the magazine. The published cover features only Putin’s face overlapping the face of Chinese President Xi Jinping. 

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Fact check Misleading 

Misleading: WHO asked Ukraine to destroy pathogens in public health labs, not bioweapons

21 March 20226 April 2022 4 min read

WHO routinely collaborates with member states on the safety and security of labs. Bioweapon allegations have been debunked by scientists.

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Fact check Misleading 

Misleading: This video shows a climate protest, not corpses in Ukraine

7 March 2022 3 min read

The video shows a demonstration held by climate activists against Vienna’s climate policy on Feb. 4, not casualties in the recent conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

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Misleading 

Misleading: Video shows naval forces exercise in Brazil, not volunteer-soldiers in Ukraine

4 March 20228 March 2022 2 min read

The video shows participants in Operation UNITAS LX, a multinational maritime exercise hosted by Brazil in 2019.

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Fact check Misleading 

Misleading: Photo of dog disposal not related to Beijing Olympics

2 March 2022 2 min read

The photo shows a dog cull in Yunnan Province in April 2006.

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Fact check Misleading 

Misleading: Video shows missile drill in China; not Russian attack on Ukraine

22 February 202228 February 2022 2 min read

The GIF is a clip from a 2017 CCTV video about China’s People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force.

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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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Misleading 

Misleading: Marcos Jr. was not the only contender wearing an earpiece

28 January 20227 March 2022 3 min read

All members of the panel were using earpieces to hear the audio.

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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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Screenshot of a tweet claiming 'the White House turned red this mornign for unknown reasons" with a "misleading" label on top of it.
Fact check Misleading 

Misleading: White House was not illuminated in red for China’s National Day or QAnon’s ‘Red October’

10 October 202112 October 2021 2 min read

The official residence of the President of the United States was lit up in pink to celebrate the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

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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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People on a passenger boarding stairs which is not attached to a plane
Misleading 

Misleading: This photo does not show Afghans waiting for a plane in Kabul

18 August 202131 October 2021 1 min read

The image showing people standing on passenger boarding steps was not taken in Afghanistan. It’s from a 14-year-old video shot in California.

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Misleading 

Misleading: Photos of HKU bulletin board with slogans of dissent were shot in 2016 and 2018, not after student body’s recent apology over controversial motion

16 July 202123 July 2021 4 min read

The misleading Facebook and Weibo posts featured a collage of two old news photos taken from local news media outlets.

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Misleading 

Misleading: This video of Hong Kong kindergarteners conducting Chinese flag-raising ceremony was filmed years ago

15 July 202119 July 2021 3 min read

Online posts claimed the Chinese Communist Party started “brainwashing” kids in Hong Kong recently, backed with a video of kindergarten pupils in a flag-raising ceremony. However, it was produced in 2015, according to a media interview with the kindergarten principal.

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