No, electric rocks from Congo are not real
Months-old video clips showing rocks giving off electric charges continue to circulate virally even though the claim has been debunked A hoax that has been circulating online for months and that has been debunked around the world was recently also sent to Namibia Fact Check via WhatsApp to verify. It’s the hoax about electricity-charged stones […]
SCAM ALERT: There is no student laptops and smartphones scheme
A post falsely claiming that students can apply for free laptops and smartphones has been circulating in WhatsApp groups for a while now The post has been going around in different student WhatsApp groups since October 2022, according to what Namibia Fact Check could gather. The post was first brought to Namibia Fact Check’s attention […]
No, the US supreme court did not rule that brothers and sisters can marry
Image Courtesy: World News Daily Report A satirical Instagram post was widely shared in September with the claim that incestuous marriages have been legalised by the highest US court. This is one of those cases where you’re just struck by the fact that some people don’t know when they’re dealing with a joke. In any […]
No, Queen Elizabeth II did not toss coins, food at poor children
Image Courtesy: An old video is claimed to show the deceased British monarch throwing money or food at poor children, but this is clearly false. The viral video clip did the rounds on various social media platforms, including in Namibian social media spaces, in the days and weeks after Queen Elizabeth II died on 8 […]
No, Peter Shalulile did not become a South African citizen
Image Courtesy: Peter Shalulile on Facebook A viral claim that Shalulile has acquired South African citizenship and is no longer regarded as a foreign player in that country circulated in early August 2022. The claim was made on the Mamelodi Sundowns FC Fans Facebook page, with over 14,600 followers, on 2 August. The post reads […]
No, there is no evidence that COVID-19 vaccines cause ‘sudden adult death syndrome’
Image Courtesy: Namibia Fact Check / WhatsApp A video clip pushing the false claim has been circulating in Namibian WhatsApp groups since July 2022. The claim is that COVID-19 vaccines cause “organic material” or objects to grow in the veins of those who have been vaccinated, causing their deaths. The two-minute long video clip was […]
No, the WHO director was not arrested for crimes against humanity
Image Courtesy: vancouvertimes.org A satirical ‘article’ virally shared via social media ‘reported’ that World Health Organization director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has been arrested for crimes against humanity. This is not a real fact check, but a reality check for people who believe (and there appear to be many) that this satirical claim is true. The […]
Robbery using a baby as a lure is not happening in Windhoek
Image Courtesy: WhatsApp / Namibia Fact Check A viral crime scare message in Windhoek neighbourhood watch groups has been floating around social media for over a year. The viral message that was forwarded to Namibia Fact Check in early August 2022 claims that a baby, wrapped in white cloth, and left in driveways was the […]
No, José Mourinho did not donate items to less privileged in Namibia
Image Courtesy: Namibia Fact Check / WhatsApp A false claim that Mourinho spent his brief holiday in Namibia donating to the needy has gone viral in social media in June 2022. From what Namibia Fact Check could establish, the false claim was first published in a Facebook group called World of Football on 19 June […]
No, the WHO will not take over the world
Image Courtesy: WhatsApp / Namibia Fact Check False claims about the global health body grabbing power continue to circulate despite no evidence of it happening as per a claimed timeline. So, this is a version of the ‘pandemic treaty’ conspiracy theory that keeps surfacing in different forms. Last month, on 3 June 2022, Namibia Fact […]