An article by “Al Jazeera” from March 2026 claims that “more journalists have been killed in Gaza since the Gaza war began on October 7, 2023, than in the US Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Korean War, Vietnam War, the wars in the former Yugoslavia and the coalition invasion of Afghanistan –…
On May 3rd, during the global observance of World Press Freedom Day, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres delivered a speech regarding the safety of media professionals, marking the occasion and highlighting the systemic failures that continue to obstruct the work of the press and endanger lives worldwide. In his speech he made the claim:…
When we started our fact-check, we thought it would be a fairly simple task. The claim was about the number of journalists killed in different wars. Find the numbers, compare them, and determine whether the claim was true or false. However, the deeper we went into the research, the more we realised that it was…
A university seminar room, cross-referencing data, verifying sources, this is how most people imagine the craft of fact-checking during their studies. However, during our international “EUFactChecking” lab, we quickly realized that research can take on very real, highly sensitive, and geopolitical dimensions. It is an experience that taught us about the fact-checking process itself, the…
Children who are born today will grow up in a different world than ours. Climate change is no longer something far away; it is a reality that shapes their future. But that future is not only negative, it mainly depends on the choices we make today. A warmer planet Scientists, such as the IPCC, agree:…
“Europe is warming faster than the rest of the world, even up to twice as fast.” This is often said in the media and in international reports. The statement is not made up; it is supported by organizations such as the Copernicus climate program and reports from the UN climate panel. But the reality is…
“Our rivers are the dirtiest in Europe.” That is what Mieke Schauvliege (Groen) claimed in a TikTok video that circulated this January. During our fact check, experts and other sources made it clear to us that the statement was untrue. Yet that conclusion didn’t feel entirely fair. The inaccuracy of the claim lays mainly in…
On Wednesday 28 January 2026, during the plenary session of the Flemish Parliament, MP Mieke Schauvliege (Groen) stated that Flemish rivers are the dirtiest rivers in Europe. According to Schauvliege, Flanders is facing a “gigantic PFAS problem that is making drinking water way too expensive.” Speaking on behalf of the Flemish green party Groen, she…
The statement to be reviewed originates from the website of the fashion company SHEIN and refers to its publicly communicated efforts in the area of climate protection and decarbonisation: “Our operational teams and supply chain partners are working to reduce the environmental footprint of our products and facilities.” Despite the statement being mostly true, it…
During the plenary session of the German Bundestag on 9 July 2025, Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) stated: “Germany accounts for approximately 1 percent of the world’s population. We account for roughly 2 percent of the problem in terms of CO₂ emissions. Even if we were all climate-neutral in Germany tomorrow, not a single natural…