Truth or Fake
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Truth or Fake
Truth or Fake is a fact-checking rendez-vous in association with the FRANCE 24 Observers. Our content focuses on false images circulating online and how to identify them. Monday to Thursday at 8:45pm and 10:20pm Paris time.
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69 epizodes
No, this video does not show immigrants destroying Christmas trees across France
As the festive season gets into full swing in France, a video showing people seizing Christmas trees has gone viral on social media. Some, including t...
Is the Louvre cursed? Water leak triggers new wave of disinformation
The Louvre Museum is making headlines once again – not because of stolen jewellery, but because of a water leak. Late last month, a pipe malfunctioned...
Did JD Vance say its ‘reasonable’ to not want neighbors who speak another language?
A clip from a JD Vance interview has resurfaced in recent days, with the claim the US vice president said it's "totally reasonable to not want neighbo...
'Abolish the EU': Elon Musk clashes with Europe over X's transparency violations
In what can only be described as an online posting frenzy, Elon Musk has made a series of attacks against the European Union, calling for it to be abo...
Admiral Alvin Holsey's resignation: What we know
Back in October, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the shock resignation of the commander of US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), Navy Admiral Al...
Viral TikTok account impersonates France 24, spreads fake news
In recent weeks, a viral account on TikTok has impersonated FRANCE 24 in a bid to spread fake news. In this edition of Truth or Fake, Charlotte Hughes...
Did Russia accidentally destroy its ability to send cosmonauts into space?
On November 27, Russia launched a Soyuz rocket to the International Space Station. Since then, news articles are claiming that Moscow has accidentally...
Hong Kong fire: Misinformation targets firefighters and bamboo scaffoldings
Hong Kong is reeling from its deadliest fire in seven decades, with at least 151 casualties. The blaze broke out on Wednesday in the Wang Fuk Court co...
Yes, ICE arrested the mother of Karoline Leavitt’s nephew
33-year-old Brazil-born Bruna Ferreira was detained this week by ICE officials whilst on the school run to pick up her child, the son she shares with...
Candace Owens falsely accuses Macrons of assassination plot in bizarre conspiracy theory
In a post viewed over 43 million times, US conservative influencer Candace Owens has accused the French presidential couple of paying for her assassin...
Violence against women: Debunking misogynistic masculinist propaganda
To mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Vedika Bahl talks through the rise in misogynistic propaganda online, and...
India, Nigeria, Sri Lanka: X reveals where viral MAGA accounts are based
Elon Musk's X has rolled out a new location feature: the app now shows the country or region that the account is based in. This has triggered outrage,...
‘Protecting Israel’s image’: X disabled Hebrew translation on posts, claims Grok
Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok says it has disabled automatic translation on Hebrew posts, citing a surge in mistranslated expressions that made content...
'Operation Matryochka': Russian propaganda machine exploits Paris attacks
A series of French newsrooms – including France 24 – have been targeted and impersonated by a Russian disinformation campaign. The operation capitalis...
Jeffrey Epstein's brother says the 'Bubba' in viral email is not Bill Clinton
An old photo of current US President Donald Trump and former US president Bill Clinton has gone viral, alongside one of Jeffrey Epstein's released ema...
No, Amazon rainforest trees were not cut down for COP 30
As the COP30 summit proceeds, Donald Trump and others continue to share the claim that 100,000 trees in the Amazon rainforest were chopped down to mak...
Paris attacks 10 years on: how social media took centre stage
On the tenth anniversary of the deadliest terror attacks France has seen since World War II, we take a closer look at the major role social media play...
Delhi explosion: old, out of context images mislead online
The Indian government says it's treating the explosion outside the capital's historic Red Fort as a "terrorist incident", after at least 12 people wer...
No, these videos do not show young Ukrainians forcibly sent to the frontline
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted this Tuesday that the situation in the embattled town of Pokrovsk remains difficult. Meanwhile, viral...
COP30: has Bill Gates become a climate denier?
The UN climate talks opened this Monday in Brazil, with world leaders set to discuss new ways to tackle global warming. Meanwhile, the spread of clima...
Satellite image of livestock in Sudan misinterpreted as mass graves
Following reported mass killings at the end of October by Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in the besieged city of El-Fasher, internet users...
NYC mayoral race: Musk blasts "scam" ballots promoting Mamdani
Billionaire Trump ally Elon Musk has questioned the legitimacy of Zohran Mamdani's momentous win in the New York City mayoral race. He called the ball...
NYC Mayoral race: Fact-checking false Republican claims about Zohran Mamdani
New Yorkers are choosing their new mayor, and 34-year-old Democratic Socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani has built a momentous campaign that could see...
No, this video does not show the UK train stabbing
Just hours after news broke of a mass knife attack on London-bound train, an AI-generated video appeared online claiming to show the scene onboard the...
Times of London duped by Bill de Blasio "imposter" critical of Mamdani
A Times of London story which supposedly quoted former New York mayor Bill de Blasio criticising the Democratic candidate for mayor, Zohran Mamdani, w...
AI-generated videos of Hurricane Melissa flood social media
From shark videos to news reports, AI is taking fake disaster content to a new level. If you have opened TikTok or X in the past 48 hours you may well...
Can Elon Musk’s AI-generated "Grokipedia" be trusted?
In this edition of Truth or Fake we look at Elon Musk’s new website Grokipedia, which he has just launched to compete with Wikipedia, the online encyc...
The ‘transvestigation’ of Brigitte Macron: how false transgender claims went viral
As 10 defendants go on trial in Paris for allegedly cyber-harassing the French first lady, Vedika Bahl takes a look at the timeline of how unsubstanti...
Louvre jewel heist: fake AI videos of the robbery circulate online
Since the robbery of the world’s most-visited museum—which saw thieves make off with France’s priceless crown jewels—multiple videos have surfaced on...
Looking for Assad: is Syria's ousted President hiding out as a mechanic… or under a hijab?
The Assad family ruled Syria for more than five decades. However, since last December, Bashar al-Assad has vanished after a lightning rebel offensive...
Elon Musk's Grok misleads internet users about anti-Trump 'No Kings' protests
Over the weekend, huge crowds gathered in cities across the US for demonstrations against President Donald Trump's policies. Some online have been all...
Israel's Foreign Ministry denounces video allegedly showing Gazans catching whale shark
As Israel reopened the Kerem Shalom crossing to allow desperately needed aid into Gaza, a viral video on social media alleged to show Palestinians in...
No, ICE agents did not zip-tie a toddler in Chicago
Viral posts accuse US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents of arresting and zip-tying very young children in Chicago, as part of Donald Tr...
Did young leftists wreak havoc in the French National Assembly?
Here in France, we’re used to heated debates in the National Assembly – especially during political crises. But this time, it’s not the MPs making the...
Did Israel leave behind booby-trapped dolls and food cans in Gaza?
A viral post claims that Israeli forces have left behind booby-trapped dolls and food cans in Gaza, allegedly to harm returning civilians. However, th...
Storm 1516: The Russian operation responsible for at least 77 disinformation campaigns
Earlier this year, French authorities identified almost 80 disinformation campaigns led by a Russian operation dubbed Storm 1516. These mainly targete...
France: Ministers in Lecornu's short-lived government to receive three months' salary?
France is grappling with further political turmoil after Sébastien Lecornu, the country's latest prime minister, stepped down after less than a month...
Is Emmanuel Macron building a luxury bunker "in preparation for World War III"?
A viral post on social media claims that French President Emmanuel Macron is spending almost €150 million in state funds on a luxury underground bunke...
No, this footage does not show a woman assaulted by police in Morocco's protests
As protesters in Morocco have been taking to the streets calling for improved social services and less corruption, some online are circulating footage...
'Med beds': Trump shares video championing alleged cure-all technology
Over the weekend, US President Donald Trump shared an apparently AI-generated clip championing fictional cure-all medical technology, known as "med be...