2023 Fact-Checks in Review

Topic of the year: Covid-19

1000+ fact-checks

Covid-19 continued to be a major source of misinformation, although the frequency of related fact-checks has been declining. Claims were often about the vaccine, ranging from the ingredients, alleged side effects to ludicrous claims about its death rate and other conspiracy theories.

• Graphene oxide is used in Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine - FullFact
• Myocarditis after a Covid-19 vaccine is a permanently damaging condition and 20% of cases lead to death within five years - FullFact
• Iceland has banned COVID-19 vaccines "amid soaring sudden deaths" - Politifact
• 5G can activate Marburg virus in Covid-19 vaccines - ThipMedia

Ukraine

500 + fact-checks

The war in Ukraine has also had high interest throughout the year mostly on the state of the conflict and how countries are supporting Ukraine with weapons and money.

• No, Russia Does Not Control 90% Of Ukraine - Check your fact
• Has The U.S. Spent Twice As Much On Ukraine Aid Than The War In Afghanistan? - Check your fact
• Massive German Protests Against Tanks for Ukraine - StopFakeOrg

February: Turkey Earthquake

300+ fact-checks

More and more claims contain photos or videos, which are almost always mislabeled or taken out of context. The tragic earthquake in Turkey is an example of that. Misinformation also appeared about some people knowing about the earthquake beforehand or even causing it.

• Embassies say there is no truth to claims about Western diplomats fleeing Turkey before the Feb. 6 earthquake - Reuters Fact-check
• Unique cloud in Turkey is connected to HAARP and earthquakes - USA Today

June: Titan Submersible

100+ fact-checks

Claims shifted from early reports of the crew's death to later claims that they had faked their deaths.

• The five people aboard the Titan submersible “have been found dead.” - Politifact
• The Titan “submarine never happened. They faked their own deaths.” -Politifact

July: Barbenheimer

At least in terms of fact-checks "Barbie" was more popular than "Oppenheimer" (more than 30 claims vs less than 10).

August: Chandrayaan Spacecraft

100+ fact-checks

Indias successful mission to the moon was followed by the obligatory claims about aliens being found.

• After the soft landing of Chandrayaan-3’s lander on the lunar surface, its rover Pragyan has found the existence of aliens on the moon - Newsmeter

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October: Israel-Hamas Conflict

1000+ fact-checks

An endless flood of mislabeled photos and videos made it difficult for everyone to know what is going on in this devastating war. Claims speculated on who is involved, which targets were bombed by which side, protests to support one side or the other, or even if the whole thing was staged.

• Egypt has sent ‘hundreds of tanks’ into Gaza to fight Israel - USA Today
• Israeli spokesperson said Israel bombed Gaza hospital - USA Today
• Video Shows Jews Protesting Draft, Not Israel -  Check your fact
• Palestinian Crisis Actors In Israel - LeadStories

Most of the fact-checked statements in 2023 turned out to be false, showing the importance of fact-checking yet again, especially in time-critical situations where new information can appear minute by minute. By the time a manual fact-check can debunk a claim, there are already hundreds more. 2024, we will continue to gather and highlight the work of the newsrooms on sorting facts from fiction. It is especially problematic with the advancements in AI tools that enable many to use AI for malicious efforts and more misinformation.

To follow the daily news from fact-checking organisations in one place - check out Factisearch.AI and our APIs.

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