A symbol picture with the silhouette of two pregnant women.

Blog: Sexual rights are even harder to obtain than before the pandemic

Having uncomplicated access to sexual rights is still very difficult these days. We explored the difficulty of accessing SRHR (sexual and reproductive health and rights) in times of the Corona pandemic. The topic of SRHR deals with issues such as sexual health, sexual rights, reproductive health and reproductive rights. These basic human rights include issues…

Mostly true: Based on preliminary research data, the Pfizer-Biontech Covid-19 vaccination has a 100 % shield against Covid cases for 12–15-year-olds

Pfizer-Biontech released a press release on the 31st of March announcing a 100 % efficacy rate on results in a Covid vaccine study on adolescents aged from 12 to 15. Several European news media reported on this. According to the study data, this claim is mostly true. However, Finnish experts say that to analyze the…

Blog: The troubles of fact-checking: one-way communication barriers

The right-winged political group in the European Parliament, Identity and Democracy (ID), posted the following on their Twitter feed: “Ursula von der Leyen is forcing EU-members to go carbon-neutral whilst taking a private jet for half of her worldwide missions.” The investigation of this claim accusing the European Commission President on January 8th led to…

fact-check uncheckable

Uncheckable: “Ursula von der Leyen is forcing EU-members to go carbon-neutral whilst taking a private jet for half of her worldwide missions”

In January, Identity and Democracy Group posted the following via Twitter: “The European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen is pushing for a new ‘Green Deal’, forcing Member states to go carbon-neutral by 2050, but takes a private jet for half her worldwide missions.” Although public tender data suggests an increase in private air travel…

Mostly True: A Desert Wind Blew $10 Billion of Global Trade Off Course

On March 27th Bloomberg.com states that the blockage of the Suez Canal by the Ever Given ship was due to the wind and that as a result, this has “left $10 billion worth of goods with nowhere to go”. The claim turns out to be mostly true.                                                            While the statements are correct, there are…

Blog: Pushing Boundaries

A first fact-check is certainly not easy, but it has guided these three journalism students to new insights. They have investigated a claim that states that the EU is hiring companies that supply weapons to conflict zones in the Middle East for border control. Which is definitely not some light reading. Thabo: “Watch out for…

True: “The largest European exporters of weaponry to Middle East get contracts to stop refugees from entering our borders”

Journalist Kasper Goethals wrote an article for Flemish newspaper De Standaard on 6 February about the border agency Frontex. In it, Mark Akkerman of NGO ‘Stop Arms Trade’ claimed that companies like Airbus and Leonardo, who are supplying weapons to the Middle East, work with Frontex to stop refugees at the European borders. Akkerman’s research…

fact-check uncheckable

Uncheckable: “European Commission famously doesn’t always move or react to democratic representations, even from its own member states”

“European Commission famously doesn’t always move or react to democratic representations, even from its own member states”, said UK’s Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs George Eustice (Conservative Party) on the 25th of March 2021 in an article about EU ban on UK shellfish published by the BBC. The statement is uncheckable.…

Mostly True: Only 10% of the (European) region’s population have received one vaccine dose and 4% have completed a full course

World Health Organization’s European head Hans Kluge stated in a Reuters article that “Only 10% of the region’s population have received one vaccine dose, and 4% have completed a full course.” The article was published on 1.4.2021. The claim appears to be mostly true. According to Reuters the article is based on WHO’s press release…

True: “Madrid is among the European cities with the highest number of deaths per million inhabitants”

The leader of Podemos party, Pablo Iglesias, stated during a televised electoral debate on 21 April that, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the community of “Madrid is among the European cities with the highest number of deaths per million inhabitants (2,207) more than London, Paris, Rome or Berlin”. The claim turns out to be true.…