Latest news with #Euroverify
Euronews
30-07-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Photo of young Merkel with future leaders goes viral, but it's fake
Posts sharing a black and white photograph online claim to show former German Chancellor Angela Merkel as a teen, sitting beside former British Prime Minister Theresa May and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The text on the photograph states, "How likely is it that three childhood friends grow up to govern three different countries?". This is not the first time that the picture has surfaced online and spurred confusion, amassing 725,000 views in a post shared on X on 25 July. However, although the photograph is a real one, the allegations are fake. Apparent inconsistencies To begin with, there are a number of inconsistencies which serve to discredit the claims made. Although the post's caption lists Merkel, May and von der Leyen as featuring on the picture, the photograph on the bottom-right is in fact a headshot of the former Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė and not of von der Leyen. Additionally, although von der Leyen served as a member of Merkel's cabinet between 2005 and 2019, she has never led a country, contradicting the text on the photograph. Tracing the picture By conducting a reverse image search, Euroverify found that the photograph originates from an article published by Time Magazine in 2015. At the time, Merkel had just been handed the publication's prestigious Person of the Year prize. The caption of the picture featured in the Time Magazine article states that Angela Kasner — Kasner is Angela Merkel's maiden name — is featured on the left of the picture, at a 1972 New Year's Eve party in Berlin. Although Euroverify was unable to identify who the other girls featured in the picture are, the European Commission has previously confirmed to the media that von der Leyen is not in the photograph. On Reddit, one user shared a picture of von der Leyen as a teenager, which Euroverify can confirm is authentic, having featured in other articles published by outlets including the Daily Mail. Meanwhile, Lithuanian officials told Euroverify that Grybauskaitė is not present in the picture either. Additionally, childhood pictures of Theresa May featured in the Daily Mail and other outlets do not resemble either of the other two teenage girls in the photograph. Where did these leaders spend their teen years? Euroverify was able to detect the photo on social media being shared with false claims circulating on social media as early as 2018. Back then, users made no mention of von der Leyen, instead asserting that it was Grybauskaitė, who grew up in the former Soviet Union, who was featured in the picture. The leaders who allegedly feature in the photograph grew up in different countries and locations. Born in 1958 to German parents, Ursula von der Leyen spent her early years in Brussels before her family moved back to their homeland in 1971, after her father became involved in national politics. Meanwhile, although Angela Merkel was born in Hamburg, her family moved to East Germany when she was three months old. Theresa May, who served as the UK's Prime Minister between 2016 and 2019 — namely tasked with negotiating the UK's exit from the European Union — spent her childhood years in Oxfordshire. These kinds of false allegations bear the risk of discrediting European institutions and member states through unfounded claims.
Euronews
08-07-2025
- Business
- Euronews
No, Germany is not imposing a ‘solidarity tax' to fund Ukraine, Israel
Two months after Friedrich Merz was sworn in as Germany's tenth Chancellor, disinformation claiming he's set to impose a so-called 'solidarity tax' to fund 'foreign countries' such as Ukraine and Israel is spreading on TikTok. Euroverify detected several examples of the claim, first spotted by fact-checkers at Correctiv, being amplified in AI-generated videos in recent weeks. While some of the accounts spreading the allegation present themselves as 'satirical', others relay the disinformation without any disclaimer, sowing confusion among TikTok users. Our team also detected similar false narratives initially being labelled as satire but eventually being amplified across the platform. These included unfounded claims that the German government would ban cash payments in supermarkets, conduct home visits to monitor workers' sick leave and cut pensions to fund EU arms procurement programmes. Merz's coalition government – composed of his centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) and the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) – was installed in May, almost three months after parliamentary elections. A study found in the run-up to that vote that German users of TikTok, the social media platform owned by Chinese company Bytedance, are more likely to be climate sceptics, less critical of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and believe that the Chinese political system is better than democracy. No evidence Germany will raise taxes to fund countries at war The Merz-led government, whilst seen as a firm ally of both Ukraine and Israel, has no plans to raise the so-called 'solidarity tax' to finance those countries as TikTok users claim. Some of those users have alleged the government will 'automatically deduct money from wages' as of 1 August, 'without prior approval, directly through payroll". 'The withheld money is automatically transferred abroad at the end of the month to strengthen political partnerships and finance local aid,' the TikTok videos detected by Euroverify falsely say, adding that the surcharge could 'increase significantly' in the coming months. A federal government spokesperson confirmed to Correctiv that such claims were not true and lacked 'any basis". The disinformation plays on the concept of solidarity surcharge, or Solidaritätszuschlag, which was introduced in Germany to fund the costs of German unification. It stands at 5.5% and is raised as an additional fee on income tax, capital gains tax and corporate tax. Around 10% of the highest earners, as well as businesses and investors, pay the surcharge today, meaning most of the German population is exempt. Satire sparks disinformation Euroverify detected a raft of similar videos on TikTok – bearing the same style and techniques – which spread other false claims about the Merz-led government's policies. These included allegations that from 1 January 2026, German supermarkets will only accept card payments and that cash will be rejected. There is no truth to these claims. Others claimed Merz would introduce 'home visits' to 'monitor' people on sick leave from work. While there are reports of an increasing number of private companies based in Germany requesting that agencies check up on employees suspected of calling in sick while fit to work, there is no evidence that the German government is looking to introduce such visits.
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Fact-checking viral claims that WHO just listed the contraceptive pill as a carcinogen
Viral claims that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has 'just classified the pill as a group one carcinogen' are flooding TikTok, the Chinese-owned social media platform. 'The pill is now classified as a level-one carcinogen. Like tobacco. Like alcohol. Like drugs,' one TikToker claims, prompting alarm among users of the platform. Others urge their followers to stop taking the pill altogether. Euroverify has investigated these claims and found that, while the WHO's specialised cancer agency does consider some types of contraception pills to be carcinogenic to humans, the reality is much more nuanced. It's not true that the WHO has 'just' classified the pill as a carcinogen, as TikTok users have claimed. In fact, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) – the WHO's French-headquartered cancer agency – has included certain contraceptive pills on its list of substances 'carcinogenic to humans' since 2005. That list, known as Group 1, includes substances where 'sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity' has been demonstrated in 'studies in which chance, bias, and confounding were ruled out with reasonable confidence". There are two main types of the hormonal contraceptive pill: the combined pill, which contains the hormones oestrogen and progestogen, and the mini pill, which contains progestogen only. Only the combined pill is included on the WHO's so-called Group 1, meaning there's sufficient evidence that it can cause cancer in humans. The mini pill is currently categorised in the IARC's Group 2B, meaning it's considered "possibly carcinogenic to humans." Several studies, however, have found that both of these pills slightly increase the risk of breast cancer in women. For example, a 2023 study by Oxford University's Cancer Epidemiology Unit found that any type of hormonal contraceptive may increase the risk of breast cancer, and estimated that use of the mini pill is associated with 'a 20-30% higher risk of breast cancer". But there is also data to suggest the contraceptive pill can reduce the risk of other types of cancer, such as endometrial, colorectal and bowel cancers. It means the relationship between cancer and the contraceptive pill is much more complex than meets the eye. We detected several TikTok videos published in recent weeks claiming that the WHO considers the contraceptive pill "as carcinogenic" to humans as alcohol, tobacco and asbestos. This claim is misleading. The IARC's Group 1 includes all the substances for which there is sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in humans, such as alcohol, tobacco and asbestos, as well as processed meats, sunlight radiation and certain viruses like Hepatitis B and C. But this doesn't mean in any way that all substances on the list carry the same risk level. It simply means there is sufficient scientific evidence to support the claim that they are all carcinogenic to humans. The IARC does not classify substances according to level of carcinogenicity, but rather according to the strength of the scientific evidence to support its link to an increased risk of cancer.
Euronews
26-06-2025
- Euronews
Musk-owned AI chatbot struggled to fact-check Israel-Iran war
A new report reveals that Grok — the free-to-use AI chatbot integrated into Elon Musk's X — showed "significant flaws and limitations" when verifying information about the 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran (June 13-24), which now seems to have subsided. Researchers at the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) analysed 130,000 posts published by the chatbot on X in relation to the 12-day conflict, and found they provided inaccurate and inconsistent information. They estimate that around a third of those posts responded to requests to verify misinformation circulating about the conflict, including unverified social media claims and footage purporting to emerge from the exchange of fire. "Grok demonstrated that it struggles with verifying already-confirmed facts, analysing fake visuals and avoiding unsubstantiated claims," the report says. "The study emphasises the crucial importance of AI chatbots providing accurate information to ensure they are responsible intermediaries of information." While Grok is not intended as a fact-checking tool, X users are increasingly turning to it to verify information circulating on the platform, including to understand crisis events. X has no third-party fact-checking programme, relying instead on so-called community notes where users can add context to posts believed to be inaccurate. Misinformation surged on the platform after Israel first struck in Iran on 13 June, triggering an intense exchange of fire. Grok fails to distinguish authentic from fake DFRLab researchers identified two AI-generated videos that Grok falsely labelled as "real footage" emerging from the conflict. The first of these videos shows what seems to be destruction to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport after an Iranian strike, but is clearly AI-generated. Asked whether it was real, Grok oscillated between conflicting responses within minutes. It falsely claimed that the false video "likely shows real damage at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport from a Houthi missile strike on May 4, 2025," but later claimed the video "likely shows Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, Iran, damaged during Israeli airstrikes on June 13, 2025." Euroverify, Euronews' fact-checking unit, identified three further viral AI-generated videos which Grok falsely said were authentic when asked by X users. The chatbot linked them to an attack on Iran's Arak nuclear plant and strikes on Israel's port of Haifa and the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot. Euroverify has previously detected several out-of-context videos circulating on social platforms being misleadingly linked to the Israel-Iran conflict. Grok seems to have contributed to this phenomenon. The chatbot described a viral video as showing Israelis fleeing the conflict at the Taba border crossing with Egypt, when it in fact shows festival-goers in France. It also alleged that a video of an explosion in Malaysia showed an "Iranian missile hitting Tel Aviv" on 19 June. Chatbots amplifying falsehoods The findings of the report come after the 12-day conflict triggered an avalanche of false claims and speculation online. One claim, that China sent military cargo planes to Iran's aid, was widely boosted by AI chatbots Grok and Perplexity, a three-year-old AI startup which has drawn widespread controversy for allegedly using the content of media companies without their consent. NewsGuard, a disinformation watchdog, claimed both these chatbots had contributed to the spread of the claim. The misinformation stemmed from misinterpreted data from flight tracking site Flightradar24, which was picked up by some media outlets and amplified artificially by the AI chatbots. Experts at DFRLab point out that chatbots heavily rely on media outlets to verify information, but often cannot keep up with the fast-changing news pace in situations of global crises. They also warn against the distorting impact these chatbots can have as users become increasingly reliant on them to inform themselves. "As these advanced language models become an intermediary through which wars and conflicts are interpreted, their responses, biases, and limitations can influence the public narrative."
Euronews
20-06-2025
- Health
- Euronews
Verifying conflicting accounts of Iran's strike on an Israeli hospital
Conflicting narratives have emerged after an Iranian missile struck an Israeli hospital on Thursday, with Tehran claiming it was targeting military facilities while the Israeli defence minister described the attack as a "war crime." Israel's Health Ministry said 71 people were wounded after missiles struck the Soroka hospital. A spokesperson for the medical facility said there had been no serious casualties as the part of the hospital that was hit directly had already been evacuated. Tehran's top diplomat has claimed that the strike "eliminated" two Israeli military targets. "Our powerful Armed Forces accurately eliminated an Israeli Military Command, Control & Intelligence HQ and another vital target," Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said on X, adding that the blast "caused superficial damage to a small section" of the hospital. Euronews' fact-checking team, Euroverify, has analysed videos from the site of the strike and consulted military experts to verify the plausibility of these claims. Video footage that we've verified shows significant destruction to buildings within the hospital complex, as well as medical workers running to evacuate from the site. Other photographic evidence analysed by our team suggest hospital buildings were directly impacted by missiles. We have also geo-located a video that shows the moment the missile hit a hospital building to the north of the Soroka complex, near David Ben Gurion street. This evidence contradicts the Iranian foreign minister's claims that damage to the site was "superficial' and caused by a "blast wave" from a nearby strike. Hospitals have special protection under the Geneva Convention, but lose that protection if used to commit 'acts harmful to the enemy', such as launching an attack or storing weapons. Israel has consistently targeted hospitals in its war in Gaza, claiming they are being used by Hamas militants. No evidence has yet emerged to suggest the Soroka hospital site was being used by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Dr. Ron Schleifer, an Israeli expert on information warfare, told Euroverify that the IDF does not use hospitals and other public facilities to "hide behind the civilian population." "A hospital is clearly not a legitimate target, at least in the eyes of the West," Dr Schleifer said, adding that "Israel does not need to hide military installations under hospitals." Yet, Iran has not alleged the hospital itself was being used for warring purposes, but rather that its missile was targeting two military targets in the hospital's vicinity: a "command and intelligence (IDF C4i) headquarters" and an "army intelligence campus in the Gav-Yam Technology Park." IDF C4i is the Israeli military's elite technological unit, and was described by the IDF in 2021 as being "responsible for all the contacts, computers and communications of IDF forces on the battlefield." The exact site of its headquarters is classified information and cannot be verified. The second site targeted according to Iran was the IDF technology campus at the Gav-Yam Technology park. That campus is located near the site of the strike, around 1.5km to the north-east. No verified videos have emerged to suggest the IDF campus was struck in the Thursday strike. In fact, verified videos only show impact on the hospital complex itself. This would suggest that if Iran was aiming at military targets, it missed. Two OSINT experts told Euroverify that their analysis of Iranian strikes on Israel over the past days suggests that Iran lacks precision in hitting its targets. Early on Friday morning, Israeli public media Kan reported that a fresh attack on Beersheba "targeted a residential neighbourhood," with inital reports suggesting the site of the Gav-Yam Negev park was impacted. In his post on X, the Iranian foreign minister shared a map that purports to show two Israeli military targets right next to the Soroka hospital. But the map is fake. The street names and topography do not correspond to the area, and major sites, including the Gav-Yam Negev technology park, are misspelt. X users have also misleadingly claimed that a video of an Iranian strike hitting the Israeli capital of Tel Aviv on Thursday shows an impact on the Gav-Yam Negev park. We've verified that the videos in question show a strike on the Ramat Gan neighbourhood in Tel Aviv, and not in the vicinity of the Soroka hospital as the user claims. Our journalists are continuing to verify footage emerging from the affected area and will update this story with the latest developments. More countries are evacuating their citizens from the Middle East as the conflict between Israel and Iran rages on, despite international efforts to find a diplomatic solution. Days of attacks and reprisals by the adversaries have shuttered airspace across the region, severely disrupting commercial flights. A repatriation flight transporting 69 people from Israel landed in Portugal on Thursday evening, with 48 Portuguese citizens among the passengers. The Portuguese government announced the temporary closure of its embassy in Tehran this week, alongside ongoing repatriation operations in the Middle East. In Serbia, 38 people arrived safely in Belgrade on Thursday night, most of whom were Serbian nationals. They arrived on a special Air Serbia flight from Sharm el-Sheikh, organised by the Serbian government, who said the evacuation of those wishing to leave Israel and Iran would continue. On Thursday, Serbian Prime Minister Đuro Macut met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty in Cairo to discuss the emergency evacuation of more than 2,500 Serbian nationals stranded in Israel. Meanwhile, in Romania, more than a hundred people arrived in the capital Bucharest on Friday on military transport flights from the Middle East. The Romanian Ministry of Defence sent the planes to the region after its nationals requested assistance. The conflict between Israel and Iran erupted on 13 June following Israeli bombings on Iranian military and nuclear facilities, which resulted in the deaths of military leaders, scientists and civilians. More than 400 EU citizens from countries including Greece, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia have been evacuated from Israel in flights supported by the European Commission.
