No, COVID-19 vaccines do not cause coronavirus variants
IMAGE: Namibia Fact Check / WhatsApp Viral posts quoting a Nobel laureate on social media have falsely claimed that COVID-19 vaccines are causing coronavirus variants to emerge. Viral posts that have been circulating on social media and in WhatsApp groups claim that French Nobel laureate Luc Montagnier stated that everyone vaccinated against COVID-19 would be […]
No, steaming every day for a week will not cure COVID-19
IMAGE: Namibia Fact Check / WhatsApp A viral social media post falsely claims that steaming daily for a week is an effective treatment for COVID-19. In another one of those ‘we-thought-this-would-have-been-dead-by-now’ episodes, we’re back to debunking steaming as a cure or treatment for COVID-19. A post that has been viral on Facebook and in WhatsApp […]
No, the US Supreme Court has not canceled COVID-19 vaccinations
IMAGE: Namibia Fact Check / WhatsApp A viral anti-vaccine post containing various false claims wrapped in emotive language is spreading among Namibian social media and WhatsApp groups. So, here’s some more American anti-vaccine disinformation swirling around in Namibian social media and WhatsApp groups. In this latest viral post, the anti-vacciners claim the US Supreme Court […]
No, WhatsApp hasn’t changed its privacy settings overnight
IMAGE: Namibia Fact Check / WhatsApp Viral social media posts claim WhatsApp privacy settings for groups have changed overnight recently, but this isn’t true. Viral messages circulating on social media and WhatsApp in May 2021 misleadingly claim that the messaging platform recently changed its group privacy settings overnight. The messages that have been going around […]
No, COVID-19 vaccines do not make people magnetic
IMAGE: Namibia Fact Check / WhatsApp Viral videos show people sticking ‘magnets’ to where they were supposedly vaccinated, but there is no proof that vaccines cause a magnetic reaction. Video clips of people sticking what they claim to be magnets to where they claim a COVID-19 vaccine was administered on their upper arms have been […]
No, there is no ‘COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund’ grant
IMAGE: Namiba Fact Check The COVID-19 relief grant scam continues to circulate, despite having been debunked months ago already. Here’s another scam that refuses to die down because people keep on sharing links in especially WhatsApp groups. A message being shared around in WhasApp groups states: “Apply For The Government Phase 4 Covid-19 Relief Fund […]
FALSE: A 19-year-old is not a Rwandan minister
Image courtesy: Namibia Fact Check / Canva A false claim about Rwandan president Paul Kagame appointing a 19-year-old to his Cabinet has gone viral on African social media. From what Namibia Fact Check could establish, there is no 19-year-old Rwandan minister named Patrick Nkuriza and there is no ‘Ministry of New Technologies and Development’ in […]
No, elephant dung is not a cure for COVID-19
Photo courtesy: Axel Tschentscher / Wikimedia Commons Bizarre belief that elephant dung cures COVID-19 has environment and police officials issuing a public warning. There is no cure for COVID-19. Since COVID-19 started going global in January 2020 there have been all manner of fake treatments, cures or remedies circulating on social media and messaging platforms. […]
FALSE: Al Jazeera’s ‘Fishrot’ documentary was not aired before the 2019 elections
Photo courtesy: Namibian Presidency President Geingob has again falsely claimed that Al Jazeera’s ‘Fishrot’ documentary was aired before the November 2019 elections. During his opening speech on Saturday, 25 July 2020, at the Swapo Party Postmortem Meeting on the Presidential and National Assembly Elections 2019, held in Windhoek, ruling party and Namibian president Hage Geingob […]
TRUE: Until late 2019 there was no legal obligation on political parties to declare donations
Image courtesy: Dr. Hage Geingob / Facebook A claim by Namibian president Hage Geingob about the disclosure of donations received by political parties has attracted much discussion on social media. In short, president Geingob claimed that the ruling party, until 18 November 2019, had been under no legal obligation to comprehensively declare or publicly disclose […]