No, companies are not giving away thousands in anniversary celebrations
Image: Namibia Fact Check / WhatsApp Viral WhatsApp and social media posts falsely claim that companies are giving away money prizes if people answer a fake survey. In what is a typical online or social media phishing scam, people are invited to participate in a ‘survey’ by clicking on a link. Various company names and […]
Unclear whether private medical aids existed before independence
Image: Namibian Broadcasting Corporation The leader of the official opposition claimed there were no private medical aid funds before independence. The claim by the president of the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), McHenry Venaani, has attracted some attention and was forwarded to Namibia Fact Check to verify whether the politician’s claim was true. Venaani made the […]
No, a New Zealand court did not rule vaccine roll out as illegal
IMAGE: Namibia Fact Check / WhatsApp A viral post in Namibian WhatsApp groups falsely claims a lawyer won a case in New Zealand by arguing COVID-19 vaccines were in “trial phase”. The post was ‘Forwarded many times’ in Namibian WhatsApp groups before being forwarded to Namibia Fact Check in early November 2021. The post was […]
No, there is no financial aid for ‘orphans’ on verge of dropping out
Image: Namibia Fact Check A post that has been circulating since 2019 has re-emerged on social media, encouraging “orphans” to apply for financial aid by sending their personal details to an unverified email account. The post has been going around in Namibian social media groups in September and October 2021 and has been especially viral […]
No, there is no Chinese created ‘portal’ on the Home Affairs website
Image courtesy Twitter / Namibia Fact Check The false claim was made by Windhoek mayor and Affirmative Repositioning activist Job Amupanda on social media. On 4 October 2021, Amupanda tweeted that the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security had given permission for the “Chinese to Insert a Portal” on the ministry’s website in […]
No, the Oshikoto governor did not say 91% of region ‘deprived of information’
Image courtesy Namibia Fact Check An article in state-owned daily New Era falsely claimed that the Oshikoto governor made the misleading claim. The article which was published on the front page of the state-owned newspaper on Monday, 4 October 2021, under the headline “91% of Oshikoto deprived of information”, states in its introductory paragraphs: “OMUTHIYA […]
No, Namibia did not fully vaccinate 10% of its population by end September
Photo by Mufid Majnun on Unsplash Health minister Kalumbi Shangula misleadingly stated in a news report that Namibia had met the global target. On Monday, 4 October 2021, The Namibian newspaper published an article on page five in which Namibian health minister, Dr Kalumbi Shangula, falsely claimed that Namibia had met a global target of […]
No, Norway did not reclassify COVID-19 as a flu
Image courtesy WhatsApp A misleading social media post claims the country considers COVID-19 no more dangerous than the ordinary flu Update: Paragraph added on 5 September 2021 to include link to Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) website. The ‘COVID-19-is-a-flu’ lie continues to circulate in a new guise. A viral post that looks like a […]
No, inhaling or eating onion does not prevent or cure COVID-19
Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash Viral video pushes the common onion as a treatment or cure for COVID-19 despite such claims having been debunked many times. Claims that inhaling onion fumes or ingesting onion as a way to prevent, treat or cure COVID-19 have been circulating virally on social media for months, and have […]
No, the AstraZeneca vaccine was not created in 2018
Image: WhatsApp / Namibia Fact Check An image of vaccine packaging with a fake date stamp has been virally shared to falsely claim the pandemic and vaccines are a hoax. The latest disinformation around a COVID-19 vaccine is a viral image of packaging of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine that was digitally doctored to make […]