In January 2025, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) published an election manifesto on their official website where they had this claim on page 77: “[…] CO₂ has proven to be a driver of increased plant growth, thereby supporting global nutrition”. This claim is mostly false.
In its 2025 federal election program, the German right wing party AfD claims, “Battery production also pollutes the environment more than a combustion engine,” citing a 2019 ifo-study. However, this claim, used in 2021 as well, relies on unrealistic assumptions and outdated data, making it mostly false. Battery capacity and CO2 balance Greenhouse gas emissions…
On the 22nd of February 2025, Flemish right-wing satirical news outlet ‘tScheldt published an article in which they claimed that the Flemish weekly magazine Knack had been receiving US taxpayer money for years. ‘tScheldt claimed this money was being used to spread woke ideologies abroad. The claim turns out to be mostly false. ‘tScheldt is a…
In numerous media appearances, Jan van Aken, co-chair of German party Die Linke, has expressed his opposition to increasing Germany’s defence budget. He argues this point by highlighting the superiority of the European NATO states over Russia, citing a yearly difference of $130 billion in defence spending. This statement turned out to be mostly false.…
Friedrich Merz, federal chairman and chancellor candidate of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) said in an ARD television interview that most of the recipients of citizen’s benefit are able to work. This statement is mostly false. “We have got 5.5 – 5.6 million citizen’s benefit recipients in Germany, around 4 millions of whom are able…
“It is still possible for us to reduce emissions in this decade to such an extent that we can meet the 1.5 degree target.” That is how Olaf Scholz began his speech at the COP28 UN Climate Change Conference. He also mentioned the technologies that are available to help us achieve it. A look at the facts…
It has now been two years since the World Cup in Qatar. Gianni Infantino, FIFA President, claimed that the 2022 World Cup had changed positively for the workers. He says that the workers have much better conditions after the World Cup and that the World itself was the catalyst. This claim was checked, and it…
The former “Ambassador of Beer” Johannes Vogel (Free Democratic Party) was interviewed in the Tagesspiegel newspaper. He spoke about his role as “Ambassador of Beer” and the topic of alcohol. He said that the amount of alcohol is crucial and that people manage to consume a safe dose. This turns out to be largely false. Johannes…
On November 7, 2024, Alice Weidel, co-chair of the party AfD, stated in a ZDF television interview that Germany has the highest energy costs worldwide, which she claimed was making its economy noncompetitive. This claim turns out to be mostly false. The interview took place after the German government coalition breakdown. Weidel used this claim to advocate…
On July 12, 2024, the now former FDP Secretary General Bijan Djir-Sarai urged an extension of the border controls that were carried out in Germany during the European Championships in an interview with SPIEGEL. He justified this to SPIEGEL by saying that permanent controls were “a necessity” in order to “limit irregular migration to Germany”.…