Author(s): BORIS BACHORZ / AFP Originally published here.
Politics
After thousands of anti-immigration protesters took to the streets in Australian cities, a video was misleadingly shared in social media posts claiming it showed young Muslim men intimidating Germans at a Christmas market. The footage, filmed in December 2024, in fact shows people passing through a Christmas market in Essen, Germany, as they celebrated the toppling of the former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad — a demonstration the local police and the city’s tourism department told AFP were peaceful.
Danish farmers have raised concerns about the health of their herds following a mandate to lower methane emissions through diet alterations and video testimonies are spreading in social media posts claiming the feed additive Bovaer is killing cows. Denmark’s regulatory agencies opened an investigation, but there is currently no evidence the compound — which is used on a voluntary basis across 70 countries — causes cattle deaths.
An image spreading online purports to show the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reporting that Russian President Vladimir Putin had called Canada a “failed state.” However, the news outlet confirmed it never published any such article; the headline originated on a satire account.
Right-wing influencers amplified a fabricated statement attributed to the Islamic State group in an effort to link New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani to the extremist organization after his victory in the US financial capital’s highly anticipated election. Independent experts and terrorism-monitoring organizations told AFP the fake had not appeared on official IS channels and did not resemble the group’s authentic communications.
Whenever you come across a claim that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has purchased a new luxury property or that his wife Olena Zelenska has gone on an extravagant shopping spree, it’s worth pausing and taking a closer look. Many such “shocking revelations” that have circulated in the past have turned out to be baseless.
Still, these stories keep resurfacing, following a familiar pattern: an obscure journalist or a “whistleblower” posts allegations about a suspicious purchase, which are then amplified by networks of local websites or influencers sympathetic to Russia. From there, the story spreads further through smaller channels and social media groups.
Such sources seek to undermine the legitimacy of Western support for Ukraine’s defense and to erode trust in Ukraine’s leadership. Similar stories may resurface in the future, especially ahead of significant decisions and votes in the European Union or the United States concerning financial, humanitarian, and military aid to Ukraine.
Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on oil and gas facilities in Russia, with one strike hitting the major Orenburg gas processing plant in southern Russia on October 19, 2025. But an image of firefighters battling a massive blaze shared online was in fact taken more than a year ago in the Kursk region.
US President Donald Trump falsely claimed Amish people living in the United States “have essentially no autism” during a White House announcement billed as offering findings on causes and treatments for the neurological and developmental disorder. Experts said he is misguided; autism does exist in the traditionalist Christian communities, which are known for rejecting modern technologies.
After protesters took to the streets in Paris in a show of grassroots opposition to President Emmanuel Macron and planned austerity measures, an old video resurfaced in posts falsely claiming it showed the demonstrations in the French capital. The footage was in fact filmed in Poland’s capital Warsaw and previously circulated in a post about an independence day rally in the city in November 2017.
An image circulating widely online appears to show Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old Utah resident accused of shooting dead US right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, wearing a T-shirt supportive of President Donald Trump. But the photo is altered; the original, lifted from Robinson’s mother’s since-deactivated Facebook page, showed the suspect in a plain top.