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1 February 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: 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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COVID-19 Misleading 

Misleading: This 2013 article refers to MERS, not COVID-19, and did not say coronaviruses are human-made

29 June 20219 July 2021 4 min read

The 2013 article has nothing to do with the current COVID-19 pandemic. The study mentioned in the story does not conclude coronaviruses can be human-made.

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Misleading 

Misleading: Hong Kong’s radiation levels neither exceeded safety limits nor increased drastically after issues reported at Taishan nuclear plant

24 June 202114 July 2021 4 min read

The radiation levels remained consistent. A nuclear expert says a comparison with Fukushima is pointless as readings are ‘well within the safety limit’.

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Misleading 

Misleading: This photo does not show Myanmar Army protecting protesters

4 June 202123 June 2021 5 min read

The insignia and logo in the uniforms and caps belonged to the Karen National Police Force, a police unit of an organization seeking autonomy for the Karen ethnic group.

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COVID-19 Misleading 

Misleading: This video does not show Mexican immigrants in “storage containers” in the US; it shows mobile homes at a quarantine site in China

12 April 202116 April 2021 2 min read

A tweet suggested the U.S. President Joe Biden has created what looks like “concentration camps” at the U.S.-Mexican border but the embedded video clip actually shows a COVID-19 quarantine site in Yunnan province, China.

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Misleading post of protester being shot at
Misleading 

Misleading: This picture does not show a protester in Kalay, Myanmar, being shot with his hands raised

26 March 202121 April 2021 2 min read

The photo claims to show a man named Zin Myo Maung being shot in Kalay in Myanmar. However, the photo was taken in Yangon and does not show him.

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misleading
Misleading 

Misleading: These photos do not show the Burmese burning the Sino-Myanmar pipeline

24 March 202120 April 2021 2 min read

Photos in the tweet are either old news photos or stock photos. None of the photos was taken in Myanmar or related to the ongoing protests.

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Misleading 

Misleading: Two pictures in this collage show protesters in Turkey, not Myanmar

19 February 202116 April 2021 5 min read

While some images show the scenes from the ongoing protests in Myanmar, others are old photos taken in Turkey in 2011 and 2013.

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Misleading 

Misleading: These rescue photos do not show Vietnamese working for ‘illegal islands’ in the South China Sea

12 January 202116 April 2021 8 min read

The crew members had been stranded on a grounded dredger for three days that had just completed a construction work in the Cua Viet channel.

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COVID-19 Misleading 

Misleading: Number of confirmed COVID-19 cases at Japan’s airports does not correspond to domestic cases in China

8 January 202116 April 2021 8 min read

Annie Lab found the popular online calculation has no validity. Three datasets do not show what the claim implied at all.

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van
Misleading 

Misleading: This video does not show Hong Kongers being transported to “re-education camps”

18 December 202016 April 2021 5 min read

It shows supporters of jailed activists Joshua Wong and two others bidding farewell when the trio left court after sentencing, not being sent to re-education camps.

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