Latest news with #AFPFactCheck
AFP
14 hours ago
- Politics
- AFP
South Korea election hit by misinformation
With the country set to vote on Tuesday for a new leader to replace ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached over a botched martial law declaration, there has been an explosion of false claims online. AFP takes a look at some of the worst offenders: What are the claims? Many of the claims focus on foreign interference, tapping into local fears of meddling by China, or fabricating support for the conservative camp from the United States. One of the most prominent falsehoods circulating online suggested weaknesses in the overseas voter registration system, with Chinese nationals exploiting the system to cast fraudulent ballots. Image Screenshot of a false Threads post captured May 8, 2025 "Even foreigners can vote as long as they have an email address!" read one widely shared post, which AFP Fact Check debunked. Who gets targeted? Opposition leader and election frontrunner Lee Jae-myung is a popular target for disinformation. Many claims focus on his purported allegiance to Beijing -- feeding into a long-running narrative among conservatives that casts progressive candidates as sympathetic to, or even controlled by, China. For example, photos debunked by AFP journalists showed Lee kowtowing to a Mao statue, and wearing a face mask with the Chinese flag on it. Image Screenshot of a misleading post shared on Facebook, taken December 18, 2023 Image Screenshot of a misleading claim shared on Facebook, captured March 26, 2024 This trend reflects the fact that many voters are less swayed by claims politicians are pro-North Korea, said Choi Jin-bong, a media communications professor at Sungkonghoe University in Seoul (archived link). "It's now the claim that progressives are subservient to China that resonates -- especially amid worsening US-China tensions," he told AFP. "Even when false, these narratives remain politically useful to conservatives as a last-ditch effort to blunt what looks like an inevitable Lee victory." What about the conservative candidate? The disinformation involving South Korean conservatives tends to focus on their ties to the United States. Doctored images have shown Trump supporting former prime minister Han Duck-soo's presidential campaign announcement. Image Screenshot comparison between the doctored image shared on Facebook (L) and the photo published by The Washington Post Han since dropped out of the race, after a failed bid to become the conservative People Power Party (PPP) nominee. Another claim involved a popular right-wing YouTuber falsely telling his 1.5 million subscribers that the Pentagon had endorsed PPP candidate Kim Moon-soo. US Forces Korea told AFP it was "completely untrue". Image Screenshots from the YouTube channel Shin In-gyun's Defense TV But even if they are patently false, the claims "remain persuasive because they benefit political actors", Lee Jun-han, a politics professor at Incheon National University, told AFP (archived link). "They tap into Korea's polarised landscape and its geopolitical anxieties, rallying each side with narratives that play on fear, identity and outside influence." What about AI? In April, a deepfake video surfaced showing Lee supposedly ending a hunger strike -- which he went on in 2023 to protest then-president Yoon's policies -- and joking about eating fried chicken. The video, which was shared widely in South Korea's right-wing online ecosystem, was generated using a real photo of Lee in a hospital bed. An AFP analysis identified numerous signs of AI manipulation -- disappearing background elements, warped body parts and inconsistent surroundings. Image Screenshot comparison of a keyframe from the AI-generated clip (L) and the original photograph published by Yonhap, with visual inconsistencies marked in red The video was fake, but it fed into a pre-existing narrative that Lee's protest was performative. "AI-driven misinformation poses a serious threat to democracy by obstructing voters' access to reliable information," said Song Kyeong-jae, a democracy and technology expert at Sangji University (archived link). "When decisions are made based on manipulated content, they are irreversible -- and the resulting social and political consequences can be profound." Fudged numbers Other claims have also sought to misrepresent pre-election polling, which has consistently shown Lee commanding a large lead over his conservative rivals. A viral graphic, shared days before early voting began, falsely claimed PPP candidate Kim was leading Lee in recent polls. In reality, the numbers came from January and February, and the original source clearly listed the survey dates. Image Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared graphic (L) and the AsiaToday graphic published on May 11, with the cropped out dates highlighted by AFP These were deliberately cropped out to mislead viewers into thinking the results were current. Official May polls showed Lee with a commanding lead of five points or more.
AFP
16 hours ago
- Business
- AFP
Posts falsely claim Nigeria was 'debt-free' after settling IMF loans
'BREAKING NEWS!!! Good news- Nigeria is finally debt-free,' read the caption of a Facebook post published on May 16, 2025. Image Screenshot showing the false post, taken June 2, 2025 Nigerian President Bola Tinubu was pictured in the post alongside text that read, 'Nigeria is finally debt-free after paying $3.4 billion to the IMF'. In a statement to local newspapers on May 8, 2025, the IMF confirmed that Nigeria has fully repaid the $3.4 billion loan obtained under the so-called Rapid Financing Instrument to cushion the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic — later corroborated by the Nigerian government (archived here and here). An identical claim was shared hundreds of times on Facebook, including in Ghana and Pakistan. However, the settling of the IMF loan does not mean Nigeria is debt-free. Unpaid borrowings AFP Fact Check searched the DMO's website where Nigeria's public debt is disclosed and found that as of December 31, 2024, the nation had outstanding loans of more than $46 billion, excluding the $3.4 billion repaid to the IMF. According to a factsheet published by the DMO on April 4, 2025, the unpaid debt is held by 'multilateral, bilateral, and commercial' creditors. So-called multilaterals constitute the largest share with a total of $22.32 billion, just under half the total external debt (archived here). Key multilateral lenders include the World Bank Group – with the International Development Association (IDA) accounting for $16.56 billion and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) $1.24 billion – and the African Development Bank Group, which collectively holds over $3 billion in Nigerian debt. Bilateral debts amount to $6.09 billion (13.30 percent of the total), with China's Exim Bank owed $5.06 billion. Other bilateral lenders include France's Agence Française de Développement, Japan's JICA, India's Exim Bank, and Germany's KfW. Commercial debt stands at $17.32 billion (37.83%), primarily from Eurobonds. Additionally, syndicated loans from institutions like Deutsche Bank AG contribute a smaller portion, totaling $54.87 million (0.12%). Meanwhile, Nigeria's debt pile may balloon should the country's legislature approve Tinubu's fresh $24.14 billion loan proposal. By the end of 2026, the West African nation may be wallowing in roughly $69.92 billion in loan servicing (archived here). AFP Fact Check previously debunked claims about Nigeria's relationship with the IMF here.
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Posts falsely claim Nigeria was 'debt-free' after settling IMF loans
'BREAKING NEWS!!! Good news- Nigeria is finally debt-free,' read the caption of a Facebook post published on May 16, 2025. Nigerian President Bola Tinubu was pictured in the post alongside text that read, 'Nigeria is finally debt-free after paying $3.4 billion to the IMF'. In a statement to local newspapers on May 8, 2025, the IMF confirmed that Nigeria has fully repaid the $3.4 billion loan obtained under the so-called Rapid Financing Instrument to cushion the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic — later corroborated by the Nigerian government (archived here and here). An identical claim was shared hundreds of times on Facebook, including in Ghana and Pakistan. However, the settling of the IMF loan does not mean Nigeria is debt-free. AFP Fact Check searched the DMO's website where Nigeria's public debt is disclosed and found that as of December 31, 2024, the nation had outstanding loans of more than $46 billion, excluding the $3.4 billion repaid to the IMF. According to a factsheet published by the DMO on April 4, 2025, the unpaid debt is held by 'multilateral, bilateral, and commercial' creditors. So-called multilaterals constitute the largest share with a total of $22.32 billion, just under half the total external debt (archived here). Key multilateral lenders include the World Bank Group – with the International Development Association (IDA) accounting for $16.56 billion and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) $1.24 billion – and the African Development Bank Group, which collectively holds over $3 billion in Nigerian debt. Bilateral debts amount to $6.09 billion (13.30 percent of the total), with China's Exim Bank owed $5.06 billion. Other bilateral lenders include France's Agence Française de Développement, Japan's JICA, India's Exim Bank, and Germany's KfW. Commercial debt stands at $17.32 billion (37.83%), primarily from Eurobonds. Additionally, syndicated loans from institutions like Deutsche Bank AG contribute a smaller portion, totaling $54.87 million (0.12%). Meanwhile, Nigeria's debt pile may balloon should the country's legislature approve Tinubu's fresh $24.14 billion loan proposal. By the end of 2026, the West African nation may be wallowing in roughly $69.92 billion in loan servicing (archived here). AFP Fact Check previously debunked claims about Nigeria's relationship with the IMF here.
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Post falsely links unrelated Ruto speech to recent Kenya-Tanzania tensions
'President Ruto responds to Samia Suluhu,' reads the text overlaid on a TikTok post published on May 21, 2025, and shared 6,000 times. The caption on the post reads: 'President William Ruto in State House Nairobi today during his meeting with Ukambani leaders after Samia Suluhu kick out Kenyan activists in Tanzania (sic).' Ukambani is a region in central Kenya. 'We are a great nation. Let nobody tell you negative things about Kenya. I have so much faith in this nation. I would not know what to do in any other nation,' Ruto says in the clip, partly in Swahili. He further expresses strong optimism for Kenya's future, asserting his conviction that the country is destined for global greatness. The recent diplomatic tensions between Kenya and Tanzania stemmed from the detention and deportation of Kenyan and Ugandan activists who had gone to Tanzania to attend the May 19, 2025, treason trial of opposition leader Lissu. Among those affected were Kenyan opposition leader and lawyer Martha Karua (archived here). Activists Boniface Mwangi from Kenya and Uganda's Agather Atuhaire, who were part of the group, accused Tanzanian authorities of torture during their incommunicado detention, with Atuhaire also alleging sexual assault (archived here). These grave allegations drew concern from human rights bodies, prompting calls for immediate investigations (archived here and here). Amid the rights abuse claims, Suluhu warned against foreign interference in Tanzania's affairs (archived here). However, the TikTok clip does not show Ruto addressing his Tanzanian counterpart over the recent events. AFP Fact Check conducted reverse image searches on keyframes from the clip and confirmed that it shows Ruto speaking during a meeting with Ukambani leaders at State House Nairobi on May 21, 2025. The clip was published by Kenyan news outlet The Standard and shows Ruto dressed in the same attire, speaking from behind a lectern (archived here). "This country will change," President William Ruto declared during a meeting with Ukambani leaders today at State House, Nairobi. — The Standard Digital (@StandardKenya) May 21, 2025 We found a longer version of Ruto's address published on YouTube by TVL News, a local digital news platform. He did not mention Tanzania or Suluhu (archived here). According to local media reports on the meeting, Ruto affirmed his government's commitment to equitable development and resource allocation for the Ukambani region (archived here and here). He also urged the leaders to encourage their residents to register for the Social Health Authority insurance scheme, highlighted progress in the affordable housing government projects and announced significant development projects in the region. There were no mentions of Ruto addressing the Tanzania dispute in these reports either. However, a week later during the 2025 National Prayer Breakfast held in Nairobi, Ruto publicly apologised to Tanzania (archived here). 'To our neighbours from Tanzania, if we have wronged you in any way, forgive us,' he said.
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Post falsely links unrelated Ruto speech to recent Kenya-Tanzania tensions
'President Ruto responds to Samia Suluhu,' reads the text overlaid on a TikTok post published on May 21, 2025, and shared 6,000 times. The caption on the post reads: 'President William Ruto in State House Nairobi today during his meeting with Ukambani leaders after Samia Suluhu kick out Kenyan activists in Tanzania (sic).' Ukambani is a region in central Kenya. 'We are a great nation. Let nobody tell you negative things about Kenya. I have so much faith in this nation. I would not know what to do in any other nation,' Ruto says in the clip, partly in Swahili. He further expresses strong optimism for Kenya's future, asserting his conviction that the country is destined for global greatness. The recent diplomatic tensions between Kenya and Tanzania stemmed from the detention and deportation of Kenyan and Ugandan activists who had gone to Tanzania to attend the May 19, 2025, treason trial of opposition leader Lissu. Among those affected were Kenyan opposition leader and lawyer Martha Karua (archived here). Activists Boniface Mwangi from Kenya and Uganda's Agather Atuhaire, who were part of the group, accused Tanzanian authorities of torture during their incommunicado detention, with Atuhaire also alleging sexual assault (archived here). These grave allegations drew concern from human rights bodies, prompting calls for immediate investigations (archived here and here). Amid the rights abuse claims, Suluhu warned against foreign interference in Tanzania's affairs (archived here). However, the TikTok clip does not show Ruto addressing his Tanzanian counterpart over the recent events. AFP Fact Check conducted reverse image searches on keyframes from the clip and confirmed that it shows Ruto speaking during a meeting with Ukambani leaders at State House Nairobi on May 21, 2025. The clip was published by Kenyan news outlet The Standard and shows Ruto dressed in the same attire, speaking from behind a lectern (archived here). We found a longer version of Ruto's address published on YouTube by TVL News, a local digital news platform. He did not mention Tanzania or Suluhu (archived here). According to local media reports on the meeting, Ruto affirmed his government's commitment to equitable development and resource allocation for the Ukambani region (archived here and here). He also urged the leaders to encourage their residents to register for the Social Health Authority insurance scheme, highlighted progress in the affordable housing government projects and announced significant development projects in the region. There were no mentions of Ruto addressing the Tanzania dispute in these reports either. However, a week later during the 2025 National Prayer Breakfast held in Nairobi, Ruto publicly apologised to Tanzania (archived here). 'To our neighbours from Tanzania, if we have wronged you in any way, forgive us,' he said.
