Category: Fact Check

  • Fact Check: Petition critical of Joe Manchin exaggerates number of W.Va. fossil fuel jobs at risk

    In 2024, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., is up for reelection. If he runs again, he faces an uphill challenge as a Democrat running in what has become a solidly Republican state. Already, term-limited Gov. Jim Justice is running in the Republican primary, as is U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney.

    One Nation, a conservative group that has been involved in politics for several election cycles but does not disclose its donors, targeted Manchin in a petition on its website, calling attention to his vote in favor of the Inflation Reduction Act. 

    As PolitiFact has noted, the Inflation Reduction Act includes a green energy package costing $369 billion over 10 years. It includes tax credits to boost investment in solar, wind, hydropower and other renewable energy. Such provisions have attracted opposition from oil and natural gas producers, including some in West Virginia, who say it puts their industries at a disadvantage.

    In the petition, One Nation wrote: 

    “West Virginia’s way of life depends on coal jobs. But the purpose of the climate provisions in President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, supported by Senator Joe Manchin “was to drive coal plants … out of business.” Senator Manchin’s support for the IRA could cost West Virginia 100,000 fossil fuel jobs! And what did Senator Manchin get? A pen. Tell Senator Manchin to stop writing off West Virginia JOBS and supporting Biden’s Liberal Climate policy. Sign the Petition below!”

    Is the petition correct that the Inflation Reduction Act “could cost West Virginia 100,000 fossil fuel jobs”? 

    We found that it’s possible some jobs could be lost in the transition to non-fossil fuel energy, but the 100,000 figure for West Virginia job losses is exaggerated. 

    One Nation did not respond to inquiries for this article.

    Running the numbers

    In 2019, PolitiFact West Virginia looked at how many oil and gas jobs West Virginia had.

    We found that the answer was complicated, but no estimate for oil and gas jobs came close to 100,000.

    In 2021, the American Petroleum Institute, an oil and gas industry association, published the most recent version of a report analyzing the oil and gas industry’s U.S. economic impact. 

    It found that West Virginia had 32,300 workers directly employed in the oil and gas industry, and that the sector supported a combined 82,000 jobs directly and indirectly. The indirect jobs included jobs that provided goods or services to the industry, as well as “induced” jobs, which were supported by expenditures by people employed within oil and natural gas industries.

    As we reported in 2019, it’s important to note that this data comes from the industry itself, rather than an independent arbiter.

    Official government data shows a far smaller number of jobs. The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics found 1,904 jobs in oil and gas extraction in West Virginia at the end of first quarter 2023. That’s down from a peak of more than 2,900 in several quarters of 2014 and 2015.

    The Bureau of Labor Statistics found an additional 2,251 workers engaged in “support activities for oil and gas operations,” down from nearly 4,600 in 2014. 

    Together, that works out to 4,155 workers in West Virginia for these two categories. Adding in roughly 22,000 jobs in coal mining, that totals a bit over 26,000 jobs.

    Experts in employment data had a couple of explanations for the differences between the two analyses.

    The petroleum institute told PolitiFact West Virginia in 2019 that the official federal data excludes contractors and sole proprietorships and partnerships, which play a significant role in the oil and gas extraction sector. Experts also said that professional services — such as lawyers reviewing lease agreements for drilling — wouldn’t necessarily be captured in the bureau’s data.

    In addition, the institute’s study includes several industry sectors that are outside of the pure oil and gas extraction activities captured in the bureau’s data. The report lists such categories as oil and gas pipeline construction, petroleum refining, various types of asphalt manufacturing, and gas stations.

    The inclusion of gas stations may go the furthest to explain the divergence between the data.

    The institute’s report didn’t specify how many of the oil and gas jobs in West Virginia come from gas stations, but in its nationwide data, gas stations accounted for about 39% of all the jobs it tallied in the oil and gas sector. So including gas station jobs amplifies the institute’s job numbers.

    Finally, we looked at the U.S. Energy and Employment Report, a periodic study published most recently this year by the Energy Department.

    It found 8,972 West Virginia jobs in the oil and gas sector and 16,955 in the coal sector, for a total of 25,927 fossil fuel jobs.

    In all, the three employment analyses suggest that the number of direct fossil fuel jobs in West Virginia is somewhere between 25,000 and 55,000. 

    Meanwhile, the petition assumes that every single fossil fuel job in the state would be lost, and that no jobs would be gained in the renewable energy sector after the Inflation Reduction Act’s passage.

    We couldn’t find specific projections for West Virginia, but nationally, the Energy Futures Initiative, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank headed by Ernest Moniz, the Energy Secretary under former President Barack Obama, projects a net gain of 1.46 million jobs by 2030 due to the law’s policy changes.

    Our ruling

    One Nation said Manchin’s “support for the (Inflation Reduction Act) could cost West Virginia 100,000 fossil fuel jobs.”

    No one knows how many jobs could be lost in West Virginia during the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, but the estimates suggest there aren’t even 100,000 fossil fuel jobs in West Virginia today, making the claim mathematically impossible. This assertion also assumes West Virginia doesn’t gain any renewable energy jobs.

    We rate the statement Mostly False.



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  • Fact Check: Video no muestra al Presidente Joe Biden llegando a Israel: son imágenes de un videojuego

    El Presidente Joe Biden visitó Israel el 18 de octubre debido a la guerra entre Israel y Hamas, pero su llegada no se vio como muestra un video en Facebook. 

    “Presidente Joe Biden llegando a #Israel”, dice el título de la publicación del 19 de octubre que muestra imágenes del supuesto Air Force One con una manada de aviones escoltas detrás. 

    El subtítulo del video también dice: “Escolta del presidente de EEUU”. 

    La publicación fue marcada como parte del esfuerzo de Meta para combatir las noticias falsas y la desinformación en su plataforma. (Lea más sobre nuestra colaboración con Meta, propietaria de Facebook e Instagram).

    Biden visitó Israel para mostrar su apoyo al país y dialogar sobre las repercusiones del conflicto en la región. Pero, el video en Facebook no muestra imágenes reales del avión presidencial, ya que estas son de un videojuego. 

    PolitiFact hizo una búsqueda de imagen inversa y encontró el video en TikTok en la cuenta @iceman_fox2. El usuario publicó el video con el subtítulo en inglés: “VISTO: Air Force One volando hoy con amplio detalle de escoltas de caza en algún lugar en el Medio Oriente”. Este incluye una nota que dice que fue filmado con Digital Combat Simulator (un Simulador de Combate Digital).

    La publicación tiene hashtags como #dcs, #virtual reality, #edit, #vr, #cinematic, que también aclaran que la publicación fue creada y editada.

    El usuario le dijo a PolitiFact que “todos sus videos son creados con digital combat simulator y que muchas personas comparten sus videos y tratan de hacerlos pasar como reales”. 

    El Digital Combat Simulator (Simulador de Combate Digital) es un videojuego de simulación de vuelo de combate, vehículos terrestres y barcos desarrollado principalmente por las compañías Eagle Dynamics y The Fighter Collection.

    El mismo video de los aviones también fue compartido en X el 21 de octubre con el titular: “Increíble… el equipo de seguridad del Presidente (Donald) Trump en el cielo! Disfruta!!”. Pero estas imágenes tampoco son de Trump en su avión o de su equipo de seguridad. 

    Calificamos la publicación que muestra a Biden llegando a Israel con aviones escoltas como Falsa. 

    Lea más reportes de PolitiFact en Español aquí.

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    Debido a limitaciones técnicas, partes de nuestra página web aparecen en inglés. Estamos trabajando en mejorar la presentación.

     



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  • Fact Check: Video falso usa la imagen del Dr. Juan Rivera para vender un supuesto medicamento

    Los médicos y profesionales que aparecen en los medios de comunicación pueden dar confianza a las personas al tomar decisiones sobre medicinas y tratamientos.

    Una publicación en Facebook muestra un video en el que aparecen el periodista Jorge Ramos y el Dr. Juan Rivera, un cardiólogo que aparece en televisión. 

    El subtítulo de la publicación dice, “El Dr. Juan Rivera ha encontrado el tratamiento más eficaz para la Artritis y la Artrosis”.

    El video tiene aspecto de noticiero de la cadena hispana Univision y aparenta mostrar a Ramos hablando sobre un nuevo medicamento para dolores del cuerpo, pero el movimiento de sus labios al hablar no parece corresponder con lo que está diciendo. A continuación aparece el Dr. Rivera, pero tampoco coinciden el movimiento de los labios con el discurso. 

    El video fue publicado en una página de Facebook llamada Tienda Oficial del Dr. Juan. Está página vende suplementos alimenticios que supuestamente sirven para bajar de peso. La primera publicación de la página es de una semana anterior a la del video.

    La publicación fue marcada como parte del esfuerzo de Meta para combatir las noticias falsas y la desinformación en su plataforma. (Lea más sobre nuestra colaboración con Meta, propietaria de Facebook e Instagram).

    El Dr. Rivera tiene una tienda que se llama Santo Remedio, la cual vende suplementos alimenticios y productos para la piel. Pero el video en Facebook en la página “Tienda Oficial del Dr. Juan” no es legítimo, dijo Vanessa Castro, gerente de la práctica del Dr. Rivera.

    Castro confirmó a PolitiFact que las imágenes del doctor provienen de una entrevista que hizo en inglés para el programa GMA3 de ABC News, en enero de 2021, donde hablaba del COVID-19 y cómo estaba afectando a la comunidad hispana.

    Castro dijo que varias veces han aparecido videos falsamente usando las fotos e imágenes del Dr. Rivera. A menudo estas publicaciones falsas promocionan soluciones a enfermedades que solo se pueden corregir con cirugía, o han hecho que ciertas personas dejen de medicarse, lo que es “peligroso e irresponsable”, según Castro.

    El Dr. Rivera también ha advertido sobre estos videos falsos en su página de Facebook. La página verdadera de él tiene más de 3.2 millones seguidores.

    La página en Facebook, “Tienda Oficial del Dr. Juan”, tiene alrededor de 85 seguidores y una dirección postal en Texas. La compañía verdadera del Dr. Juan está afincada en Miami, tal como indica en su página web. 

    Según el profesor de marketing de Emory University David Schweidel, la mejor herramienta que existe para detectar si un video es real o no es validarlo con la fuente original ya que “cuando se trata de una figura pública, como hay contenido disponible, este tipo de videos son fáciles de crear”.

    Ramos, el otro protagonista del video, en mayo advirtió en X, antes conocido como Twitter, que se estaba usando su imagen para comerciales falsos con los que él no tenía nada que ver. “En mi carrera periodística nunca he hecho comerciales”, dijo.

    El video en Facebook anuncia que “El Dr. Juan Rivera ha encontrado el tratamiento más eficaz para la Artritis y la Artrosis”. Pero según los Centros para el Control y la Prevención de Enfermedades (CDC, por sus siglas en inglés), ambas enfermedades son crónicas.

    “No existe una cura para la artritis, pero se puede tratar y manejar”, dice la página web de los CDC, también dice que la artrosis es la forma más común de artritis.

    Calificamos la afirmación de que un video muestra al Dr. Rivera hablando sobre un medicamento para la artritis y la artrosis como Ridícula y Falsa.

    Lea más reportes de PolitiFact en Español aquí.

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    Debido a limitaciones técnicas, partes de nuestra página web aparecen en inglés. Estamos trabajando en mejorar la presentación.



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  • Fact Check: Fact-checking Alex Mooney on whether Jim Justice supports banning sporting rifles?

    Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., is challenging Gov. Jim Justice for the Republican nomination for a U.S. Senate seat in 2024. Mooney is criticizing the governor by posting a “Phony Jim Justice” website.

    Mooney’s website makes a number of claims, one of which is that Justice “supports banning sporting rifles for law-abiding citizens.”

    We reached out to both candidates’ offices. Justice’s campaign did not respond to inquiries, but Mooney’s campaign did.

    Brittany Yanick, a spokesperson for Mooney’s campaign, cited statements Justice made during a briefing on May 31, 2022, about increasing the minimum age to buy an assault weapon to 21.

    In the briefing Justice said, “We absolutely know without any question, to me, at least, that why in the world is an 18-year-old buying an assault weapon? A 21-year-old, I’d welcome it.”

    Whatever Justice’s personal feelings on this question are, he did not sign such a bill into law.

    Meanwhile, Justice also said in the briefing that he didn’t support an assault weapons ban and that citizens may need assault weapons to protect their homes.

    In addition, Mooney’s site used the term “sporting rifle,” which is a broader term than the actual phrase Justice used — “assault weapon” — and which would be even more objectionable to gun-rights advocates.

    Subsequently, in March 2023, Justice did sign into law a bill that eased gun laws. It allows West Virginians who already have a concealed-carry permit to carry concealed weapons on the state’s college campuses beginning July 1, 2024.

    Meanwhile, Justice’s campaign website says: “Governor Justice believes it is a God-given right that West Virginians can protect themselves. … More gun control and confiscation are not the answers. In the Senate, Jim Justice will fight to preserve our rights and work to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill. We need more resources for law enforcement, mental health services, and prisons to ensure irredeemable, violent criminals stay behind bars.”

    Our ruling

    Mooney said Justice “supports banning sporting rifles for law-abiding citizens.”

    This statement is misleading, cherry-picking and exaggerating a comment Justice made in a 2022 briefing. In the briefing, Justice expressed doubts that 18-year-olds should be able to buy assault weapons, suggesting the minimum age should be raised to 21.

    This has not become law during his tenure, and even if it had, Mooney’s phrasing makes Justice’s statement sound more far-reaching than it is. “Sporting rifle” is a broader category than “assault weapon.”

    In reality, Justice signed a bill expanding concealed-carry rights on the state’s college campuses, and his campaign website says he is against “more gun control and confiscation.”

    We rate the statement False.



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  • Fact Check: No te dejes engañar: las empresas solares no tienen que regalar paneles solares

    Un video en Facebook que muestra a trabajadores instalando paneles solares en casas, dice revelar un secreto que las compañías quieren ocultar. 

    “¿Sabes cual es el secreto nacional de las empresas solares en Estados Unidos? Resulta que tienen que regalar paneles solares sin costo neto si lo solicitas”, dice la publicación del 15 de octubre. “En serio las empresas solares en Estados Unidos están haciendo todo lo posible para mantener esta información lejos del público”.

    El video también dice que la información está supuestamente filtrándose debido a un nuevo programa de estímulo solar federal para luchar contra el cambio climático.  

    La publicación fue marcada como parte del esfuerzo de Meta para combatir las noticias falsas y la desinformación en su plataforma. (Lea más sobre nuestra colaboración con Meta, propietaria de Facebook e Instagram).

    El costo neto se refiere al precio pagado o a pagar de un producto, en este caso los paneles solares, después de aplicar todos los costos de producción y descuentos. 

    Lo que el video en Facebook dice no es una realidad.

    “Las compañías solares no están requeridas a regalar paneles solares y hacen esto muy raramente”, dijo Becca Jones-Albertus, directora de la Oficina de Tecnologías de Energía Solar del Departamento de Energía de Estados Unidos (DOE, por sus siglas en inglés) a PolitiFact en marzo.

    El gobierno federal sí promueve paneles solares a través de medidas como un crédito fiscal que cubre el 30% del costo. Esto implica una reducción de impuestos si una persona instala paneles fotovoltaicos en sus hogares. Pero la cantidad de crédito varía y depende del año en el que el residente instale el sistema solar fotovoltaico, según la Oficina de Tecnologías Solares del DOE.

    El DOE publicó un artículo desmintiendo la declaración de paneles solares gratuitos y recomendó a los consumidores tener cuidado “con las ofertas que parecen demasiado buenas para ser verdad”. 

    Forbes reportó que en ciertos casos,compañías solares manejan la instalación y mantenimiento de los paneles por hasta 25 años. Después de eso, el cliente puede tener la oportunidad de comprar los paneles, o la compañía los removerá. Firmar un contrato de renta de los paneles haría al cliente inelegible de cualquier descuento, crédito fiscal federal o incentivos locales. 

    Una portavoz del DOE refirió a PolitiFact a un blog que dice que existen programas legítimos que pueden ayudar a clientes a pagar un bajo costo inicial. Algunos estados subsidian la energía solar para hogares con ingresos calificados, pero estos dicen que hay que verificar que el programa aparezca en un sitio web del gobierno o llamar a la oficina estatal para asegurarse de que la oferta sea real y saber cómo participar.

    PolitiFact ya ha verificado anteriormente publicaciones falsas ofreciendo paneles solares gratuitos. 

    Algunos estados subsidian energía solar para hogares que califican con su ingreso, pero eso no hace verdadera la declaración en el video de que las empresas solares en Estados Unidos “tienen que regalar paneles solares sin costo neto si lo solicitas”.

    Calificamos esta publicación como Falsa. 

    Lea más reportes de PolitiFact en Español aquí.

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    Debido a limitaciones técnicas, partes de nuestra página web aparecen en inglés. Estamos trabajando en mejorar la presentación.

     



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  • Fact Check: Can the U.S. keep aid to Gaza out of Hamas’ hands?

    After President Joe Biden announced the U.S. will send $100 million in humanitarian aid to Gaza and the West Bank, critics countered the plan would ultimately help the Hamas leaders who, on Oct. 7, launched surprise attacks in Israel that killed 1,400 people.

    Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., called the idea of giving aid to Gaza “crazy” while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis predicted that Hamas would commandeer the money and use it for terrorism. “I say no U.S. tax dollars to the Gaza Strip,” DeSantis said. 

    The U.S. effort seeks to distinguish between helping the people who live in Gaza and helping Hamas, the political and military organization that governs Gaza — a group that the U.S. State Department in 1997 labeled a terrorist organization.

    How feasible is it to get aid to civilians without helping Hamas? 

    Experts on humanitarian aid told PolitiFact that it is achievable but challenging.

    “The consideration right now has to balance the dire needs of civilians and the chance that the terrorist group controlling the territory will also gain some benefit,” said Matthew Levitt, a senior fellow with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank. “In a crisis like this, it cannot be a zero sum game in either direction.”

    Many of the more than 2 million people who live in Gaza are facing shortages of food, water and basic supplies. As it planned counterattacks, Israel warned residents of north Gaza to evacuate. The United Nations has said 5,000 have been killed in Gaza, citing “reports from de facto authorities there.”

    Biden’s Oct. 18 announcement said that the U.S. funding would provide water, food, medicine and other essential needs, focusing especially on the 1 million Palestinians who have been told to leave northern Gaza.

    The $100 million will come from previously approved funds, so implementing the plan won’t require further action by Congress. The administration has proposed a separate $9.15 billion humanitarian aid package for civilians in Gaza, Israel and Ukraine, without specifying how much will go to Gaza. This aid would require approval from Congress.

    Many questions remain about the aid for Gaza, including when the House — which for now lacks a speaker — will be in a position to vote on the funding package. 

    Here’s what we know about U.S. aid to Gaza.

    The U.S. has given aid to Palestinians since 1950

    After the 1948 war that solidified Israel’s independence, the United Nations formed the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA. The agency’s services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, refugee camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance, and emergency assistance.

    The agency is funded by UN members, including the United States, which has given money since 1950. This includes aid to both Gaza and the West Bank.

    Over the past two decades, the only gap in funding came during the Donald Trump administration, which eliminated funding for UNRWA. 

    The Biden administration renewed funding in 2021. The U.S. also provides aid through the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID.

    U.S. assistance to the West Bank and Gaza improves the quality of life for the Palestinian people, the State Department said in 2023. Past administrations have used similar arguments to justify U.S. aid to the Palestinians. 

    In the 1990s and early 2000s, before Hamas took control of Gaza, “major construction projects were implemented in Gaza, including a major reservoir and water management effort,” Larry Garber, who was USAID’s mission director from 1999 to 2004, told PolitiFact. 

    After the takeover by Hamas in 2007, the U.S. government “has been unable to engage directly” with the government of Gaza “but has continued to implement programs there through contractors and non-governmental organizations, while ensuring that no assistance benefits Hamas.”

    The goal is to get aid to civilians

    For now, aid can only arrive through the Rafah crossing at Gaza’s border with Egypt, because Israel has sealed its border as it pursues its military response to the Oct. 7 attacks. 

    Topher McDougal, professor of economic development and peacebuilding at the University of San Diego, predicted in The Conversation that the aid to Gaza would likely be delivered through a network of UNRWA-supported hospitals and schools, which are now serving as shelters for people displaced by Israeli airstrikes.

    Biden and Republicans agree that no U.S. aid should benefit Hamas.

    Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesperson, said in an Oct. 19 press briefing that the U.S. and Israel share “a legitimate concern” that Hamas will divert the aid and added that the U.S. is “going to be watching very carefully how it’s delivered.”

    Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Oct. 11 on CBS “Face the Nation,” “We want to make sure we’re not sending money to Hamas.” He added, “There are genuine humanitarian needs of the people in Gaza who are not Hamas, who’ve been thrown under the bus by what Hamas did.”

    Some Republican senators took a more aggressive stance, introducing a bill to cut off funding for the U.N. to aid Gaza. Some Republicans have cited part of a 2021 State Department memo that says there is “high risk Hamas could potentially derive indirect, unintentional benefit from U.S. assistance to Gaza.” The memo was obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, a conservative outlet, through a records request.

    However, the memo also cites the West Bank and Gaza mission of the USAID in saying that “there have been no known cases of U.S. government or other donor supplies or equipment being stolen or destroyed” and that the State Department believes it is in the U.S. national security interest to provide the aid. 

    Biden hinted that the U.S. could cut off aid if Hamas seized it, saying on Oct. 20, “If Hamas does not divert or steal these shipments, we’re going to provide an opening for sustained delivery of lifesaving humanitarian assistance for the Palestinians.”

    How challenging is the goal of keeping aid away from Hamas?

    U.S. restrictions on aid and Hamas are tough, but not perfect, experts said.

    Like the European Union and other nations that have counterterrorism laws, the U.S. takes measures to verify that funds and materials are provided to non-terrorist entities and are not diverted to support terrorist organizations, said Chen Reis, director of the humanitarian assistance program at the University of Denver.

    These rules are “very stringent,” said Nathan Brown, a George Washington University professor who studies Middle Eastern law and politics.

    One way to minimize “leakage” to Hamas is for representatives of the humanitarian groups to be present as the goods are distributed, said Michael Barnett, a professor of international affairs and political science at George Washington University. Another is to deliver aid to refugee camps that have been demilitarized, he said.

    In addition, third-party organizations “watch very carefully,” with pro-Israel groups ready to file lawsuits against aid organizations if they violate counterterrorism laws, Barnett said.

    Still, with Hamas exercising pervasive control in Gaza, any aid transaction inevitably faces some interaction with Hamas.

    Garber, the former USAID official, said he feels confident that U.S. assistance funds have not directly benefited Hamas over the years, but said it is hard to police “incidental benefits.” For example, U.S. dollars have supported roads and other infrastructure that Hamas has been able to use, too.

    McDougal said humanitarian aid workers inevitably need to contend with tradeoffs as they balance working with local authorities to gain access to help civilians. “Hamas has repeatedly flouted international norms and laws,” McDougal wrote in The Conversation essay. “So the question of if and how the aid convoy will be protected looms large.”

    Because helping the people of Gaza inevitably means going through the tight control of Hamas, “you can try all you want to hermetically seal that aid so Hamas’ fingerprints are not on it, but there will always be limitations,” Barnett said. “The hope is that it’s always limited.”

    RELATED: U.S. aid to Israel: What to know

    RELATED: All of our fact-checks about Israel and Gaza



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  • Fact Check: Unfounded claims about crisis actors amid Israel-Hamas war spread online

    CNN published an interview with the children of a couple who the news outlet said were killed in Israel by Hamas militants. 

    But some social media users are parsing the interview for evidence that the children are actors peddling a false story about their parents dying. 

    “CNN interviews kids who apparently lose parents by Hamas but their bad acting and laughing exposes the fake footage,” reads text over a clip from the interview shared in an Oct. 17 TikTok post. 

    “While they hire actors and photoshop grief we see actual women children and civilians being abliterated!! Shame on you who defend Isread,” the post’s caption says, misspelling “obliterated” and “Israel.”

    TikTok identified this video as part of its efforts to counter inauthentic, misleading or false content. (Read more about PolitiFact’s partnership with TikTok.)

    This claim is unfounded. Although the interview, which CNN published on its website Oct. 12, shows the children crying and, at times, smiling — emotional responses to trauma vary widely and can include laughing and smiling —  there’s no evidence to suggest they’re crisis actors recounting a fabricated story. 

    Rather, other news organizations such as The Associated Press and an ABC News affiliate in Northwest Arkansas, near where the children’s mother was from in Missouri, have reported on the family’s ordeal. The Associated Press shared time-stamped text messages between the family members.

    We rate claims this interview shows crisis actors False.

     



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  • Fact Check: No, this video doesn’t show Russia attacking Israel in October 2023

    A recent TikTok post purports to show Russia attacking Israel in mid-October with a video of a pilot flying.

    “Today Russia attack on Israel,” reads the text in the video, which was posted mid-October on TikTok.

    But this video has been online for more than a year.

    TikTok identified this video as part of its efforts to counter inauthentic, misleading or false content. (Read more about PolitiFact’s partnership with TikTok.)

    We found the same video shared on the social media platform on Oct. 1, 2022, but this post didn’t suggest there was any connection to Israel or Russia. It used hashtags that included #airforce but didn’t include an explanation for what was happening in the video.

    We don’t know precisely what’s happening in this video, but we can confirm that it doesn’t show Russia attacking Israel after Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault on Israel, which led to an ongoing war. 

    English — not Russian or Hebrew — can be heard in both versions of the video, including the word “altitude.” 

    And the pilot’s badge suggests he’s American. It’s an Air Combat Command Shield from the U.S. Air Force.

    Moscow has maintained close relations with Hamas, Foreign Policy reported Oct. 19, and the Kremlin has never declared it to be a terrorist group, unlike the U.S. “But so far, there is no clear evidence that Russia supported Hamas in planning or executing its surprise attack on Israel,” the story said. 

    China and Russia, meanwhile, plan to work together to reach a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians, according to The Associated Press.

    We found no news reports or other credible evidence that Russia has attacked Israel, much less that this video shows such an invasion. 

    We rate this claim False.

     



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  • Posts Use Fabricated Audio to Misrepresent CNN Report During Rocket Attack in Israel

    Quick Take

    A CNN report on Oct. 9 showed a news crew in Israel taking shelter in a roadside ditch during a rocket attack. But social media posts used fabricated audio of the news coverage to falsely claim the reporters were “faking an attack.” The audio was altered by a conservative commentary organization that acknowledged “the voice over isn’t real.”


    Full Story

    The Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, launching rockets from Gaza and infiltrating the Israeli border by air, ground and sea to target civilians and soldiers and take hostages. Israel responded by declaring war on Hamas, mobilizing its military reservists and starting airstrikes on Gaza.

    More than 5,000 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis have been killed in the war, as of Oct. 23, the United Nations said, citing the Gaza Ministry of Health and Israeli official sources, respectively.

    Meanwhile, the conflict has been a source for widespread misinformation online.

    Journalists in the region have been at risk due to their proximity to ground assaults and fired missiles. At least 23 journalists covering the conflict have been confirmed dead, with 11 others injured, missing or detained, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, a nonprofit that “defend[s] the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal.”

    One news crew caught up near ongoing attacks was a CNN team led by chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward on Oct. 9. While Ward’s team was preparing to cover the route that Hamas militants took during its Oct. 7 attack, Israel’s Iron Dome defense system intercepted rockets overhead, forcing the team to shelter in a roadside ditch.

    In the days following Ward’s coverage, social media posts shared an altered version of the news coverage, which added audio of a fake phone call between a CNN producer and Ward’s team, directing them to “look nice and scared” and purportedly adding explosion sound effects — giving the impression that the news coverage was faked.

    An Oct. 16 Instagram post read, “CNN Get Caught Faking an Attack From Hamas in Israel,” on screen, as well as a caption claiming, “in order to EXAGGERATE the narrative CNN is FAKING CONTENT!”

    Another Instagram post, which has received over 2,700 likes, has the words “Leaked Footage … Directors Edition” added on screen, with a caption that claims, “CNN is done after this. Bye bye fake news.”

    But the audio was added to the news report “satirically” by The Quartering, a conservative commentary organization. While the organization clarified that one of its editors added the voiceover as a parody, the social media posts lack this context — leading many social media users to believe the audio is real.

    A CNN spokesperson told us in an email, “The audio in the video posted and shared on X is fabricated, inaccurate and irresponsibly distorts the reality of the moment that was covered live on CNN, which people should watch in full for themselves on a trusted platform.”

    We should note that while The Quartering acknowledged that the audio was not real, the organization continues to claim the CNN team was “acting” to exaggerate the danger of the situation.

    “Yes of course the voice over isn’t real but the fake acting IS real,” posted The Quartering on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Oct. 10. In a video posted to YouTube on Oct. 13, the organization’s host continued, “the intent of that video was never to convince people that [the audio] was real. It was to point out those actors, those CNN news actors, were very clearly acting.”

    False claims that news reports are being fabricated are popular during ongoing wars, as we’ve written before.


    Sources

    Associated Press. “Live updates: What’s happening on Day 13 of the Israel-Hamas war.” PBS NewsHour. 19 Oct 2023.

    “CNN BLASTS The Quartering For REVEALING Their FAKE Over The Top Reporting On The Conflict.” Video. YouTube. 13 Oct 2023.

    CNN. “CNN team ducks from ‘massive barrage of rockets’ near Israel-Gaza border.” Video. Accessed 19 Oct 2023.

    Committee to Protect Journalists. “Journalist casualties in the Israel-Gaza conflict.” Accessed 23 Oct 2023.

    Committee to Protect Journalists. “What We Do.” Accessed 20 Oct 2023.

    Farley, Robert. “Post Paints Misleading Picture of Biden’s Financial Support for Israel and Palestinians.” FactCheck.org. 11 Oct 2023.

    Hancock, Tess. “CNN Video Shows Canadian Fire Gear Donated to Ukraine, Not ‘Fake Footage.’” FactCheck.org. 30 Mar 2022.

    Jones, Brea. “Video Shows Climate Protest in Austria, Not ‘Crisis Actors’ in Ukraine.” FactCheck.org. 22 Mar 2022.

    Jones, Tom and Ren LaForme. “Journalists rush into danger to cover the Israel-Hamas war.” Poynter. 10 Oct 2023.

    López Restrepo, Manuela. “Here’s how Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’ stops rockets — and why Ukraine doesn’t have it.” NPR. 12 Oct 2023.

    Martínez, Andrés R. and Emma Bubola. “What We Know About the Hamas Attack and Israel’s Response.” New York Times. 9 Oct 2023.

    Spencer, Saranac Hale and D’Angelo Gore. “What We Know About Three Widespread Israel-Hamas War Claims.” FactCheck.org. Updated 20 Oct 2023.

    Spencer, Saranac Hale. “Posts Share Bogus Memo to Falsely Claim U.S. Is Sending Additional $8 Billion to Israel.” FactCheck.org. 12 Oct 2023.

    TheQuartering (@TheQuartering). “A few people missed the fact that this is an into from the longer coverage lol. Yes of course the voice over isn’t real but the fake acting IS real. :).” Twitter. 10 Oct 2023.

    TheQuartering (@TheQuartering). “CNN Busted FAKING Attack in Israel For The Camera!” Twitter. 10 Oct 2023.

    United Nations. “Israel-Palestine: Gaza death toll passes 5,000 with no ceasefire in sight.” UN News. 23 Oct 2023.

    YouTube. “CNN team ducks from ‘massive barrage of rockets’ near Israel-Gaza border.” Video. 9 Oct 2023.

    Zinsner, Hadleigh. “Viral Video Clip Misrepresents Trump Remarks on Israel.” FactCheck.org. 10 Oct 2023.

    Source

  • Fact Check: A shrine in Iran raised a black flag in mourning, not to call for war

    A black flag hoisted over a mosque in Iran prompted social media users to claim the country has called for war.

    “The Islamic Black Flag has been risen on Razavi Shrine in Mashhad, Khorasan province, Iran, shown below,” read the caption of an Oct. 17 Facebook post. “This is a Scripture-based (Qur’an) call to all of Islam for War. This flag was used by the Prophet Muhammad and is a sign of religious revolt/rebellion and engagement of battle.”

    (Screenshot from Facebook)

    The post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

    Could a call for war be so straightforward? We looked into the context of the black flag and found that the claim is unsupported.

    The black flag was a statement of mourning, not war, after the Oct. 17 bombing of al-Ahli hospital in Gaza, which killed hundreds with more casualties expected.

    The Imam Reza Holy Shrine, sometimes called the Razavi Shrine, in Mashhad, Iran, posted an identical photo on its Instagram account. According to its caption, which tried to censor some words, the black flag was hoisted “in response to the barbaric crimes of the usurping Zio**nis**t (Zionist) regime, especially the bombardment of the Al-M**u’am**dani (Al-Mu’amdani) hospital.” 

    The Imam Reza shrine is managed by the Astan Quds Razavi, which also published an announcement about the hoisting of the black flag. Based on a version of the page translated with Google, it said, “Following the martyrdom of hundreds of residents of the Gaza Strip in the barbaric crimes of the usurping Zionist regime, the holy shrine of Razavi will take on a mood of mourning.”

    Iranian state-controlled news sites and others also reported that the Imam Reza shrine raised the black flag to mourn the casualties from the hospital explosion and other “crimes” by Israel. In a fact check of similar claims, Reuters also linked to an Oct. 18 statement published by Astan Quds Razavi, the shrine’s administrative organization, saying the flag was changed for “public mourning” because of the deaths in Gaza after the hospital explosion.

    Based on Imam Reza shrine’s news releases that were translated using Google, the shrine planned more events, including a people’s gathering and a support march to express solidarity with Palestinians.

    It’s not uncommon for the shrine to hoist a black flag in mourning. It does so for martyrdom anniversaries.

    A black flag hoisted in October at Iran’s Imam Reza shrine was not a call for war. We rate that claim False.



    Source