Navigating the web of deception: Top 10 fake news stories debunked in 2023

In the age of digital information, the fight against fake news, fueled by "click-bait journalism," rages on. Over the years, navigating the digital terrain has presented a growing challenge in separating fact from fiction.

And the year 2023 has been no different.

Yet fact-checkers, journalists and information experts continue to debunk the narratives constructed on disinformation and deceit.

From political hoaxes to health-related misinformation, here are the top 10 fake news stories debunked in 2023.

Aid to Afghanistan and Ukraine

Claim: A January 26 video on social media falsely claimed the US has given Ukraine a total of $91.3B in aid and that that amount had surpassed "twice the US expenditure for its war in Afghanistan". The post generated thousands of likes and shares.

Fact: The US has spent more than $849B on its war in Afghanistan since it invaded the country in 2001, including on ongoing reconstruction efforts, as per government reports. As for Ukraine, Washington has allocated approximately $113B in aid for Kiev following Russia's military offensive in early 2022.

Contrary to the misinformation, US Congress approved several spending packages for Ukraine in the past year, totalling approximately $113B. These allocations, dispersed in March, May, September and December, also consist of funding for NATO allies.

US expenditure figures for Afghanistan and Ukraine include military spending and humanitarian aid.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Claim: On August 2, a video surfaced on Facebook falsely claiming that "Hiroshima and Nagasaki were never nuked". This misleading content appeared shortly after the release of the film "Oppenheimer," which centres on the physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the key figure behind the development of the first nuclear bombs.

Fact: On August 6, 1945, the US deployed a 13-kiloton uranium bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, killing an estimated 237,000 people. Three days later, the US dropped a 21-kiloton plutonium bomb on Nagasaki, killing over 73,000. Japan announced its surrender to the US the next day.

Tedros not vaccinated

Claim: An Instagram user shared a post on X from conservative radio host Stew Peters that misleadingly claimed that "TEDROS SAYS HE ISN'T VACCINATED".

Fact: On September 12, Peters posted an edited clip from a 2022 HBO documentary featuring Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO).

In the clip, Ghebreyesus suggested that he delayed getting the COVID-19 vaccine in protest against vaccination failures in African countries.

However, in the full interview with Jon Cohen published in Science magazine on June 18, 2021, Tedros stated that he had already received his first vaccination on May 12, 2021, and even shared a photo of the event on Twitter, emphasising the importance of vaccinations.

Russia helping Palestine

Claim: On October 28, an Instagram video falsely implied that Russia was planning to militarily assist the Palestinians in Gaza. The video, titled "Putin Announced Russia Will Openly Help Palestine. No One Can Stop Us," features President Vladimir Putin addressing troops at a military rally, showcasing armoured vehicles and aerial displays of fighter jets.

Fact: The initial video was not produced during Israel's war on Gaza, but was from a May 2021 World War II "victory" ceremony, when Putin celebrated Victory Day and commemorated the defeat of Nazism in 1945. In the 2021 speech, Putin made no mention of Palestine, Palestinians or Israel.

While Putin condemned the October 7 Hamas attack and cautioned Israel against blocking aid to Gaza, he did not announce military support for the Palestinians of Gaza.

Vegan bombs

Claim: On October 24, a viral video shared by conservative comedian Terrence K. Williams on Instagram falsely suggested that Greta Thunberg advocated for the use of "sustainable tanks and weaponry" in armed conflicts.

The post, which garnered over 17,000 likes, features Thunberg supposedly endorsing battery-powered fighter jets and biodegradable missiles, as well as urging the use of vegan grenades to avoid harming animals.

Fact: The audio in the video is fabricated. The original video posted by Snicklink, a self-described "conspiracy comedian," featured a “satire” label in the lower right corner. Although the satire tag is visible in a post shared by another Instagram user, it was cut off in Terrence K. Williams's post.

This fake video was created by replacing the audio in a real clip of Greta Thunberg from a 2022 BBC interview. Deepfake technology was then used to synchronise her lip movements with the fabricated audio.

Israel’s war on Palestine’s Gaza

Claim: A November 15 Instagram video showed three soldiers in camouflage uniforms raising an Israeli flag and a white and purple flag on the roof of a building. The video claimed that the flag was raised on the roof of Al Shifa Hospital.

Fact: Contrary to the claim that the flag was raised at Shifa Hospital, it was actually raised at a school in another part of Gaza City, separate from the hospital Israel raided.

Juliette Touma, a spokesperson for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, confirmed that the building in the video housed one of UNRWA’s schools in Gaza City.

Additionally, the video shows the soldiers stepping over the letters "UN" written on the rooftop floor, indicating the United Nations’ presence.

A medic with weapon

Claim: Amidst unrest in the occupied West Bank amid Israel’s war on Palestine’s Gaza, a social media video showed a Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres) medic taking a weapon from an injured person and passing it on to someone else who begins to shoot it.

Fact: The individual in the video, initially identified as a Doctors Without Borders medic, is not associated with the organisation, as confirmed by a MSF spokesperson.

The person is seen wearing an orange vest with the letters "PMRS" below a yellow circle, matching the attire worn by members of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS). Doctors Without Borders staff wear white vests with the organisation's red and white logo.

Ukraine did not surrender

Claim: A November 4 Instagram post showed a screenshot of a post on X featuring a black and white photo of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stating that he has surrendered.

Fact: Several news sources covered updates in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war in the days following the publication of the post. One update involved a reported Ukrainian missile strike on a shipyard in Crimea that damaged a Russian ship, as detailed by the Associated Press on November 5. This event contradicts the notion that Zelenskyy had already surrendered or that Ukraine had previously fallen.

Fake blood

Claim: A video circulating on social media showed a young girl whose face was painted with makeup and fake blood, alongside scenes of people waving Palestinian flags, claiming to depict Palestinians in Gaza staging injuries during Israel’s war on the besieged enclave.

Fact: The video is actually a behind-the-scenes shot from the set of a short film produced in Lebanon. The director clarified that the footage is meant to artistically represent the reality of war.

Putin warning US

Claim: An October 9 Facebook post showed a video of Russian President Vladimir Putin issuing a warning to the US about Israel’s ongoing war on Palestine’s Gaza.

“Putin: I am warning that #America should not interfere in #IsraelPalestineWar,” reads the caption on the post.

“If America does that we will openly help #Palestine.”

Fact: In the clip, Putin was actually talking about Ukraine, but the English subtitles were inaccurately translated and did not convey Putin's actual statements in Russian. The original clip captured Putin's remarks during a televised session of his Human Rights Council on December 7, 2022, addressing the escalating risk of nuclear conflict in connection with Russia's offensive against Ukraine, which began in February 2022.