Several initiatives are analysing the spread and combatting fake news.

Blog: Disinformation before the European elections – how big is the threat?

Since the controversial Facebook scandal, which was uncovered at the beginning of 2018, the topic of disinformation on the internet has become the focus of many discussions in the US election campaign. Even before the German federal election in September 2017, there were warnings to be vigilant against possible disinformation campaigns and propaganda incitement. Recently,…

fact checking

Mostly false: „10,000 scientific research files call upon delaying the implementation of 5G technology”

A candidate for the upcoming European Parliament elections, Tihomir Lukanić, expressed his concern with the implementation of 5G network at a press conference held by a Croatian political party Živi Zid (Human Shield). The claim turns out to be mostly false. The statement rose some questions in the media and provoked discussion on the dangers…

Mostly true: “Asylum seekers and refugees are clearly over-represented in both sexual assaults and aggression offences”

Does crime increase with migration? German right-wing politicans like Alice Weidel of the right-wing populist party AfD says ‘yes’. The criminal statistics seem to support this claim but the number of suspected criminals is small in all population groups. This quote is an excerpt of a Facebook post Alice Weidel published on 25 March 2019.…

fact-check uncheckable

Uncheckable: “Let us be clear, while Muslims may have been the victims today, usually they are the perpetrators.”

After the attacks on mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, the Australian senator Fraser Anning has claimed that Muslims are often executors of terrorist attacks. This claim has received worldwide attention. What do the statistics say about the religious background of terrorism? The statement was published by the Australian senator Fraser Anning on the 15th of…

fact checking

Mostly false: “2018 youth unemployment in Sweden is the lowest in 17 years”

Peter Rangwe, who is a free time politician, representing the political party Socialdemokraterna (the Swedish social democratic party) claims that the figures on youth unemployment 2018 in Sweden is the lowest in 17 years. Socialdemokraterna is the now reigning party. He also claims that Sweden received economical support by the EU in 2014, to cope…