Latest news with #factchecking
The Independent
a day ago
- The Independent
Fact check: AI-generated Israel-Iran posts and inflation confusion
This roundup of claims has been compiled by Full Fact, the UK's largest fact checking charity working to find, expose and counter the harms of bad information. AI-generated and miscaptioned footage and images have been going viral on social media as the Israel-Iran conflict continues. In the last few days Full Fact has seen at least a dozen examples of such posts circulating widely. Both countries have launched multiple strikes against each other following Israel's attack on Iranian nuclear and military sites last Friday. We increasingly see AI-generated content shared online in the wake of major breaking news events. And while we can't always definitively say where a video or image comes from, several which we've fact checked in connection with the current conflict were almost certainly created with AI. For example, one video of a bombed city has been shared with claims it shows 'doomsday in Tel Aviv' in Israel. However, the same footage was previously shared on May 28, before the recent strikes between Israel and Iran. And there are clear signs suggesting that it was made using AI – for example, two cars approaching each other at a T-junction in the top left corner appear to merge into one, while other vehicles in the video also become glitchy and blurry as they move. An image of destroyed planes has been shared with claims it shows damage caused by Iranian strikes on Tel Aviv's airport. But, using reverse image search tools, Full Fact traced the image to a (since deleted) video which appeared to have been generated using AI tools. There are visual glitches in the rendering of the plane at the forefront of the image, with portholes along the cabin appearing in a gap where a section of the plane is missing. If you're wondering if a video clip is AI, one tip that's worth noting is that some social media posts share versions of footage that are much more grainy and blurry than the original, making it difficult to identify signs of AI. So it's always worth looking for clearer versions by searching key frames of footage using tools such as TinEye or Google Lens. When there's a lot of interest in a global news story it's also very common for us to see old or unrelated video or photos passed off as something they're not – and again, Full Fact has seen multiple examples of this in recent days. Footage of what appears to be a drone causing an explosion in a built-up area has been shared with claims it shows an Iranian drone strike on Tel Aviv. However, it actually shows drone attacks on Kyiv in Ukraine in October 2022. The version being shared recently appears to have been horizontally flipped, which is something we often see when mislabelled images and videos are circulated. A video being shared with claims it shows recent protests against the regime in Iran is also old. It's actually footage from protests in Iran back in December 2017. And a picture shared on social media doesn't show, as claimed, an Israeli female pilot who has been captured in Iran. It's actually a photo from several years ago of a Chilean naval aviator. Misleading information can spread quickly during breaking news events, especially during periods of crisis and conflict. So before sharing content that you see online, it's important to consider whether it comes from a trustworthy and verifiable source. Full Fact has a toolkit with practical tips anyone can use to identify bad information, as well as specific guides on how to spot misleading images online, how to fact check misleading videos and how a fact checker spots if something is AI. Did inflation drop last month? New data published on Wednesday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that inflation stood at 3.4% in the 12 months to May 2025. But different media outlets reported this figure in different ways – some claimed inflation had 'held' at 3.4%, while others said 'inflation falls slightly' or referred to a 'fall' on the previous month's figures. The confusion is due to an error with April's inflation figures. Last month, the ONS initially reported that the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) had risen from 2.6% in the 12 months to March 2025 to 3.5% in the 12 months to April 2025. However, earlier this month it revealed that incorrect road tax data provided by the Department for Transport had had 'the effect of overstating' April's figure by 0.1 percentage point. In other words, the true CPI figure for the 12 months to April 2025 should have been 3.4%, which would mean that the figure published for May is unchanged on the previous month, not a fall. So why did some media outlets nonetheless report May's figure as a drop? Well, despite the ONS acknowledging this mistake, the figures on its website won't be updated. So the official figure for inflation in the year to April remains 3.5%, as noted in the ONS' data release on Wednesday, even though it's known to be an overestimate and based on incorrect data. When we asked the ONS about this, it told us that its policy was that CPI figures 'may only be revised in exceptional circumstances', adding: 'We have incorporated the correctly weighted data from [the] May figures, meaning no further statistics will be affected.'
New York Times
13-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Corrections: June 13, 2025
An article on Thursday about the shared interests of labor unions and immigrants in the Los Angeles protests misstated the type of paperwork that the federal government flags when there is a mismatch with Social Security records. It is tax paperwork, not immigration verification paperwork. An article on Thursday about a House-passed domestic policy bill incorrectly described the accounting of profit margins. They would appear on a company's income statement, not its balance sheet. An article on Tuesday about addressing suicide deaths in Suriname by restricting access to the pesticide paraquat misstated its impact on the country's suicide rate. It cut the pesticide suicide mortality in half, not the overall suicide rate. Errors are corrected during the press run whenever possible, so some errors noted here may not have appeared in all editions. To contact the newsroom regarding correction requests, please email nytnews@ To share feedback, please visit Comments on opinion articles may be emailed to letters@ For newspaper delivery questions: 1-800-NYTIMES (1-800-698-4637) or email customercare@
BBC News
10-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
BBC Verify Live: US anti-ICE protests trigger online misinformation
Update: Date: 09:28 BST Title: Welcome to Tuesday's BBC Verify Live Content: Rob CorpBBC Verify Live editor Good morning. Welcome to our live page where we'll be bringing you the latest from the BBC's specialists in open-source verification, fact-checking, data journalism and disinformation debunking. This morning our teams are working to identify misinformation that is being posted online about the US anti-immigration enforcement protests and unrest. You can follow the latest from BBC News on that story here. Elsewhere, the verification team is looking into renewed attacks on Ukraine overnight and working to verify the latest information from the war. And the fact-check team is gearing up for tomorrow's UK government spending review - we'll update you later on how we'll be involved with the BBC's coverage. As ever you can get in touch with us via this link.
CNET
04-06-2025
- Business
- CNET
Leaving Facebook? Be Sure to Snag Your Data Before Deleting Your Account
Many people are readjusting their social media habits, and opting out of certain services entirely. Facebook has seen a significant exodus of users leaving the platform following the announcement in March that Meta was ending fact-checking on their platforms. While fact checking was replaced with community notes, allowing users to make corrections to potentially misleading information, this isn't the only change to Meta's moderation policies. In response, many users are heading for the door, and wondering how to collect their information on the way out. With years of photos, and a treasure trove of personal information, plenty of users are wondering how to collect their data before deleting their account. If you're one of those people, read on to see how to get rid of your Facebook permanently, while snagging all your information on the way out. For anyone who's completely done with Facebook, deleting your account is the only way to fully separate yourself from the platform. If you aren't quite sure, deactivating your account can let you try life off Facebook without risking deletion. Downloading your data and deleting Facebook does take some time, but we have all the details for you on what to expect and how to save everything before you delete your account entirely. Before deleting your account, find and remove your third-party Facebook logins For years, third-party developers like Spotify and DoorDash have let you log in using your Facebook account. This allows you to log in without needing to remember another password, but if you're planning on deleting Facebook, you'll need to update your login settings. That's because if you delete your account first, there won't be a Facebook account for you to log in through. Thankfully, there's a simple way to discover which of your sites and apps are linked to Facebook, and disconnect them before deleting your account. To find and disconnect the online services linked to your Facebook account: Sign in to Facebook. Go to Settings & privacy > Settings > Apps and websites. (Apps and websites is on the left, but you'll need to scroll down a bit. It's nested under Your Activity.) Select Remove next to the associated app to remove the third-party login. Don't lose access to apps and services you use Facebook to log in to. Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET After you disconnect other sites and apps from Facebook, you'll need to adjust how you log in to them moving forward. Navigate to those specific apps and sites to set new passwords or passkeys, or log in using another single-service sign-on option, like Google. What's the difference between deactivating and deleting your Facebook account? If you're trying to disengage from Facebook, you have two basic options. You can delete your account entirely, or you can deactivate it. Deactivating your Facebook account is temporary and could help if you're trying to spend less time on the app or you need a break from social media. Alternatively, deleting your account entirely means you'll no longer exist on the social media network. Whether you deactivate or delete your account, a few things will remain the same. Your profile, posts, photos and timeline will be inaccessible to other users. If anyone searches for your account, you won't appear in results. Likewise, any photos you've posted will disappear, including pictures other people were tagged in. Any third-party logins, like Spotify or Pinterest, will no longer work either, so you'll need to tweak how you log in to those accounts before deleting Facebook, unless you want to recover them later. Deactivating your account doesn't delete your data, and you can reactivate it whenever you like. The important thing to remember is that deactivating your account means Facebook can still track your online activity, especially if you use third-party logins. Deactivating your account means you can return to it, but once the 30-day period of deleting an account finishes, that account is gone forever. If you aren't ready to completely delete Facebook, deactivation is the way to go. When you deactivate your account, you'll still be able to send messages, and third-party logins will still work, though Facebook-related features will be disabled. What will deleting your Facebook account do (and not do)? Deleting your Facebook account will remove your visible presence from the social media network, but it doesn't remove everything you ever touched on the platform. Deleting Facebook also severs ties to Facebook Messenger, but your messages to friends will still be accessible to them. If you use your Facebook information to log in to MetaQuest, all information on MetaQuest will also be deleted. This includes your app purchases and your achievements. It also means you won't be able to return any apps through MetaQuest, and that all remaining store credits will disappear. Other Meta platforms, like Instagram and WhatsApp, won't be affected by a Facebook deletion. If you want to leave those platforms, you'll need to delete those accounts independently. Next, download all your personal data from Facebook Plenty of folks have been using Facebook for years to stay in touch with friends and family, or as an easy place to collect photos. If there's data on Facebook that you want to save before you delete your account, here's how to grab it. Log in to Facebook. Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Account Center. Select Your information and permissions. Select Download your information. Select Download or transfer information. Select the profiles you'd like to download information from. Select Next. When asked how much information you want, click Available information. Note that this includes everything except data logs, which are the records of details that can be associated with you. If you want those, click Specific types of information and make sure Data Logs is selected at the bottom of the list. Select Download to device. In the Create files to download options, click Date range and set it to All time. Leave the format set to HTML -- doing so puts your data in an easy-to-navigate format. To save high-resolution copies of photos and videos you've posted to Facebook, change the Media Quality option from Medium to High. Finally, click Create files. Facebook will then gather all your information and send you an email when it's ready to be downloaded. It can take some time for this to happen -- it's not an instant process. Make sure you grab all the personal data you want to keep before deleting your account. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET Finally, delete your Facebook account Once you've downloaded the data you don't want to lose from Facebook, the final step is to delete your account. Facebook will give you a list of items to consider before deleting your account. It includes info about downloading your information, and a reminder that if you're the sole admin of a Facebook Page it will be deleted unless you grant another account admin privileges. Once you're ready to go, here's how to delete your Facebook once and for all. Log in to Facebook. Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Account Center. Select Personal details under Account Settings. Select Account ownership and control. Select Deactivation or deletion. Choose the account or profile you want to delete. Select Delete account and then select Continue. Click Continue then follow the instructions to confirm. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET What if you change your mind and don't want to delete Facebook? Though deleting your Facebook profile is a permanent decision, it doesn't happen instantly. It takes 30 days for an account deletion to be completed in the system, which means you have time to cancel the process if you decide you want to keep your account. All you need to do is log back in to your account before reaching that 30-day mark.
Japan Times
04-06-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
Media firms launch election fact-checking initiative
Jiji Press and some other members of the Japan Newspaper Publishers & Editors Association have launched a fact-checking initiative for election-related online information, beginning with the Tokyo metropolitan assembly election on June 22. The collaboration between Jiji Press, the Yomiuri Shimbun group, Saga Shimbun and Nippon Television Network aims to enhance the fairness and credibility of fact-checking work and disseminate accurate information broadly. The initiative will examine uncertain information pieces that could affect the fair holding of elections and assess them as "correct," "almost correct," "groundless," "incorrect" or "false." Assessment results could be published by participating media companies. Opinion pieces will not be covered. The four media companies will cooperate with the nonprofit Japan Fact-check Center. They will also invite other media companies to participate.
