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

Picture does not show dozens of private jets in Egypt for COP27

False claim: Social media users around the world have shared a picture of an airport with dozens of small planes, accompanied by the claim that it shows part of the “more than 1,500 private jets” that reportedly landed in Egypt for COP27, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, held in the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh between November 6 and 18.

Truth:

  • A reverse image search shows that the picture shared on social media was taken at Orlando Executive Airport during the 2012 NBAA (National Business Aviation Association) Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition.
  • The same image was published in articles by aviation websites to promote the 2016 and 2022 editions of the NBAA convention.
  • Egyptian aviation authorities, who asked not to be named, told AFP on November 10 that more than 400 private jets landed in the country for COP27.

USA

Trump's claim that the ocean will rise one-eighth of an inch over the next 200 to 300 years is false

False claim: In a speech on November 15, in which he announced his third presidential bid, Donald Trump made the following statement: “You cannot mention the nuclear word; it’s too devastating.

The Green New Deal and the environment – which they say may affect us in 300 years – is all that is talked about. And yet nuclear weapons, which would destroy the world immediately, are never even discussed as a major threat. Can you imagine?.” “They say the ocean will rise one-eighth of an inch over the next 200 to 300 years, but don't worry about nuclear weapons that can take out entire countries with one shot,” he added.

Truth:

  • A report published last April by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) informs that “if we are able to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, U.S. sea level in 2100 is projected to be around 0.6 meters (2 feet) higher on average than it was in 2000.”
  • NOAA’s report also states that “on a pathway with high greenhouse gas emissions and rapid ice sheet collapse, models project that average sea level rise for the contiguous United States could be 2.2 meters (7.2 feet) by 2100 and 3.9 meters (13 feet) by 2150.”
  • According to the document, global warming is causing global mean sea level to rise in two ways: “First, glaciers and ice sheets worldwide are melting and adding water to the ocean. Second, the volume of the ocean is expanding as the water warms.”

Europe

Boy who appeared in children’s vaccination campaign in Argentina did not die because of vaccine

False claim: Social media users in Europe have shared the news of the death in Argentina of a 4-year-old boy who had recently starred a children’s vaccination campaign in the country.

The posts claim that the boy had “received 3 doses,” implying that this was the cause of his death.

Truth:

  • Articles published in the Argentine press report that Santino Godoy Blanco, the child mentioned in the posts shared on social media, died on November 4, 2022 at the Dr. Raúl F. Larcade Municipal Hospital in San Miguel, Buenos Aires province.
  • According to the Argentine press, the autopsy of the child's body showed that the cause of death was bilateral pneumonia, a severe inflammation that affects both lungs and can be caused by viruses, bacteria or fungi.
  • In an interview on November 9, 2022 to the local TV station TN, Santino's mother Agustina Blanco accused the hospital staff of negligence, stating that the child received a series of misdiagnoses that delayed the proper treatment of the lung infection, leading to his death.
  • Santino Godoy Blanco's face had appeared in the national vaccination campaign against measles, rubella, mumps and polio launched by the Argentine government on October 1, 2022.
  • The campaign, which ended on November 13, established that each child would get only one dose of the vaccine.

Latin America

Article 5 of NATO treaty does not necessarily commit an ally to a military response if a member is attacked

False claim: After a missile hit the Polish village of Przewodow on the border with Ukraine on November 15, social media users in Latin America have shared the claim that Article 5 of the NATO treaty commits all allies to respond to an attack to a member country with military force.

Truth:

  • Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, the legal document that cemented the formation of NATO in 1949, states that “the Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all.”
  • The article, however, makes it clear that there is no automatic reaction to be taken in such a situation, let alone that this response must necessarily be military.
  • The text also adds that any action taken as a result of such an attack will be immediately reported to the organization's Security Council.
  • On November 16, after a meeting of the Council, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the organization has no evidence of a deliberate attack on Poland.

Asia

Russia has not deployed troops to Indonesia to defend the country “from Australia and US attack”

False claim: Social media users in Indonesia have shared a video that claims Russia has deployed 9,000 troops to the Southeast Asian country to help it defend itself “from Australia and US attack.”

Truth:

  • A reverse search shows that the Indonesian language voiceover heard in the video is a doctored version of a news report published by the Indonesian website Tribunnews on October 26, 2022.
  • The original recording reports on Russia's deployment of 9,000 troops and hundreds of tanks to neighboring and allied Belarus amid the conflict with Ukraine.
  • The recording that went viral on social media replaces on several occasions the words “Ukraine” and “Belarus” from the original version with “Australia” and “Indonesia.”
  • Reverse image searches also show that the images in the video were taken from old events, such as a meeting between the presidents of Indonesia, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, and Russia, Vladimir Putin, that took place in May 2016.
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