The world of news is complex - and false stories and images are often widely shared on social media. Blasting News’s editorial team spots the most popular hoaxes and misleading information every week to help you discern truth from falsehood. Here are some of the most shared false claims of this week, of which none are legit.

World

Greta Thunberg did not say climate change does not exist

False statement: Posts shared on Facebook and Instagram claim to show an excerpt from a recent interview with environmental activist Greta Thunberg in which she states that the climate crisis does not exist.

Truth:

  • The interview featured in the posts was aired on March 7 on MSNBC's "The Mehdi Hasan Show." The excerpt shared on social media, however, was edited to change the context of Greta's speech.
  • According to the original recording, available on MSNBC's website, the activist said: “So, what we need now is to raise awareness. To create public opinion. To treat the crisis like a crisis. Because if people are not aware of the crisis that we face, of course, they won’t put pressure on the elected leaders. So, I would just tell him to tell the situation as it is. Because I mean, yes, you could say, I meet with a lot of world leaders and they say ‘I can't do anything because I don't have the support from voters.’ Well, how can you expect support and pressure from voters if you aren’t treating the crisis like a crisis — since the climate crisis doesn’t exist, how can we expect people to want climate action?”

USA

Wind turbine did not melt in Texas due to a sizzling heat wave

False statement: A photo shared on Facebook and Twitter claims to show a wind turbine in Texas with its blades melted due to the severe heat wave that has gripped states across the southwestern United States this month.

Truth:

  • In a tweet on June 14, the National Weather Service Houston reported that the turbine shown in the social media posts, located near Wadsworth in Matagorda County, was damaged by a storm.
  • NWS Houston and other meteorologists confirmed a storm in the area.
  • The turbine manufacturer (WE Renewables) confirmed that the damage "was definitely NOT related to heat or high temperatures."

USA

Mother Teresa is not Anthony Fauci’s mother

False statement: Posts shared on social media claim that Dr.

Anthony Fauci is the son of Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997), a Catholic missionary famous for her charity work with orphans and lepers in India and who was canonised as Saint Teresa of Calcutta by Pope Francis in 2016.

Truth:

  • According to information from Biography website, Anthony Stephen Fauci was born December 24, 1940, in Brooklyn, NY, to Stephen and Eugenia Fauci, “first-generation Italian-Americans.”
  • Born in Skopje, Ottoman Empire (now the capital of North Macedonia) in 1910 from Kosovar Albanian parents, Mother Teresa made her first trip to the U.S. only in 1960.

United Kingdom

Japan has not banned Olympic athletes from taking the knee

False statement: A post shared on Facebook claims that Japan has banned athletes who will participate in this year's Tokyo Olympics from wearing any Black Lives Matter (BLM) “apparel” or taking the knee during the national anthems.

Truth:

  • Contrary to what the publication suggests, the ban on athletes demonstrating has been in place for decades and is not specific to the Tokyo Olympics or to Black Lives Matter.
  • Created by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Olympic Charter states in article 3 of rule 50 that “no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.” The Olympic Charter was last reviewed in July 2020.

Philippines

Paracetamol and Coke mix does not treat anxiety and depression

False statement: Posts shared on TikTok, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube claim that drinking a mixture of paracetamol painkiller dissolved in Coca-Cola works as a remedy for anxiety and depression.

Truth:

  • In an interview with AFP, Charibel Escandalor, president of the non-profit organisation Philippine College of Psychopharmacology, affirms that both paracetamol and Coca-Cola do not contain ingredients that help with anxiety or depression.
  • "[Paracetamol] is a painkiller and is taken for fever. There is no other approved use for paracetamol (...) If you check the clinical guidelines for depression and anxiety, you won't see paracetamol on any list," Escandalor said.
  • As for Coca-Cola, he recalls that it contains caffeine, a stimulant, in its composition. “[People with anxiety and depression] are not going to do very well if they keep caffeinating themselves,” he concluded.

Brazil

U.S.

Supreme Court did not overturn universal Covid-19 vaccination

False statement: A post shared on Facebook claims that the United States Supreme Court has overturned the universal Covid-19 vaccination in the country, inflicting a defeat on Bill Gates, Dr. Anthony Fauci and Big Pharma. The post also claims that the lawsuit was filed by “a group of scientists led by Senator Robert F. Kennedy Jr.”.

Truth:

  • According to the U.S. Constitution, each state has the power to decide whether to make it compulsory for its citizens to be vaccinated against a contagious disease.
  • In December 2020, the U.S. president Joe Biden stated that vaccination against Covid-19 would not be made mandatory at a federal level.
  • The U.S. Supreme Court website, which lists all the court's decisions, does not record any ruling related to universal vaccination.
  • Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was never a senator. The nephew of former president John F. Kennedy is an environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist.
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