Mostly true: Less educated people are more likely to get depressed

The German TV-Show „Hischhausens Sprechstunde“ explains in a short film during the show (beginning at 28:30 minutes) how and why someone is developing a depression. One reason, among others, being a low education. Causes and concomitant effects are difficult to separate, which is why the general scientific consensus is that social status, and thus education,…

Mostly true: E-vehicles are more efficient than combustion engines

The effects of climate change are becoming increasingly noticeable. In this context, the e-vehicle is gaining more and more popularity in Germany – many people expect it to have a better climate footprint than conventional combustion engines. This thinking is promoted by statements like this: “E-vehicles are three times more efficient than combustion engines”. This…

fact checking

Mostly false: “Postal voting is a big problem and electoral fraud is a sad truth in Germany”

On August 15th 2021, the German right-wing populist party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) claimed on Facebook that postal voting in Germany is “not a solution, but a problem” and that every election year has significant cases of electoral fraud. In the German federal election 2021, AfD member Björn Höcke called the people to go to…

Mostly true: Germany has not let only urgently needed specialists into the country

The German right-wing party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) ranks among the harshest critics of the countries refugee policy. In November 2021, the representative spokesman of the party, Stephan Brandner, released a statement in which he claims that not only urgently needed specialists have been let into the country. We rate this claim as mostly true.…

Mostly True: “Left-wing extremism continues to grow and grow stronger in Germany”

The German politician Malte Kaufmann from the right-wing party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) wants to classify anti-fascist groups as terrorist networks and have them banned. He cites the rising numbers of left-wing extremist crimes in Germany as justification. The claim turns out to be mostly true. The reason for Kaufmann’s claim was an article by…

Mostly true: No major sporting event has yet improved the human rights situation in the hosting country

The director of the organisation Human Rights Watch Germany, Wenzel Michalski, has again criticised the upcoming World Cup in Qatar. He claims that major sporting events never lead to an improvement of human rights in the hosting country. This statement is mostly true. Frequently, major sporting events are held in countries where human rights organisations…

False: “Corona vaccine kills more people than all other vaccines in the past 20 years“

The European Commission is hiding fatal side effects after a corona vaccination – this is what Joachim Kuhs, Member of the European Parliament for the German right-wing populist party AfD, claims. He supports his statement with respectable sources that are right in themselves. However, his interpretation of them is wrong. On October 5, 2021, AfD…

True: Greenhouse gas emissions have to drop 50% in eight years to stay below 1.5 degrees

As climate change becomes ever more apparent, calls for action and consistent measures are multiplying. Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), says as part of the launch of the UNEP Emissions Gap Report (EGR21) that to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, we have eight years to nearly halve greenhouse gas…

Mostly false: Pushbacks at Croatian-BiH border are “individual events”

Nikola Milina, the head of Croatian police, said that the violent pushbacks at the Croatian-Bosnian border filmed in October 2021 were an “individual event” and that he doesn’t want that to “affect the praise the police receive for their everyday sacrificial work”. Data from NGOs and media reports show that these events may have been…