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.

USA

Anheuser-Busch’s CEO did not resign after backlash over campaign featuring transgender influencer

False claim: Social media users in the United States have shared a screenshot of an article claiming that the CEO of Anheuser-Busch resigned after the company received criticism for choosing transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney to star in a Bud Light ad campaign. “The shakeup at Anheuser Busch continues in the wake of what may have been the dumbest thing a company could ever conceivably do.

CEO Augustus Anheuser III left the corporate headquarters in shame after tendering his resignation,” reads the article, according to which the campaign caused sales of Bud Light to plummet.

Truth:

  • A reverse image search shows that the article shared on social media was originally published on April 6, 2023 on the Dunning-Kruger Times website, which defines itself in its “About Us” section as a “parody, satire, and tomfoolery” page and disclaims: “Everything on this website is fiction.”
  • Contrary to what the article shared on social media claims, the current CEO of Anheuser-Busch is Brendan Whitworth. There is no record of an employee named Augustus Anheuser III at either Anheuser-Busch or its parent company, AB InBev.
  • The image used by the article to supposedly illustrate Augustus Anheuser III actually depicts Jerry Sandusky, former coach of the Penn State University football team and convicted in 2012 of child abuse.

United Kingdom

Biden did not snub British prime minister after landing in Belfast

False claim: Social media users in the United Kingdom have shared a video of President Joe Biden's arrival in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on April 11, accompanied by the claim that the clip shows Biden snubbing and pushing aside British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to greet others as he disembarked the presidential aircraft, Air Force One.

Truth:

  • The full video of Biden's arrival in Belfast, shared among others by British broadcaster Sky News, shows that as Biden gets off the plane, the first person he greets is precisely Sunak, with whom he exchanges a few words before walking down the runway and greeting the other people present.
  • In a statement to AFP, Andrew Bates, White House deputy press secretary, said that the footage shared on social media “was dishonestly manipulated.”

Italy

Video does not show multiple explosions in a Tesla after crash

False claim: Social media users in Italy have shared a video showing several explosions in a vehicle bursting into flames, accompanied by the claim that the footage shows a Tesla car after a crash.

Truth:

  • A reverse image search shows that the video shared on social media was originally posted on YouTube on July 15, 2013. The video description points out that the footage was recorded two days earlier after an accident on the Moscow ring road involving a bus and a truck carrying 119 gas cylinders.
  • Media reports published on July 13, such as the state-run RIA Novosti news agency and the BBC Russian-language service, confirm that the accident involved a bus carrying 28 passengers and a truck carrying 119 gas cylinders.

Brazil

It is false that the Federal Reserve announced the end of physical dollar bills

False claim: Social media users in Brazil have shared a video that claims that the Federal Reserve recently announced that it will replace all paper dollar bills with digital transactions starting this April.

“The paper [dollar] bills that we all know will no longer be accepted in transactions, for cash payment or for any other type of transaction (...) There will be no more paper money circulating on American territory,” the video claims.

Truth:

  • The video shared on social media alludes to the FedNow, an instant payments service announced by the Federal Reserve on March 15, 2023.
  • In a statement published on its website, the Fed states that the new service, which will be launched in July 2023, “is neither a form of currency nor a step toward eliminating any form of payment, including cash.”
  • According to the Fed, FedNow will allow “individuals and businesses to send and receive payments within seconds at any time of the day, on any day of the year, so that the receiver of a payment can use the funds almost instantly.”

Indonesia

Picture does not show a bust of “the founder of the Islamic State in Brazil”

False claim: Social media users in Indonesia have shared a picture of a bust, accompanied by the claim that the image is a representation of “Gangga Zombie, the founder of the Islamic State in Brazil.” “After the Portuguese occupied Brazil, and after attacking the West African Islamic coast and capturing its people and transporting them on ships in 1539 AD, they were enslaved and forcibly converted to Christianity.

Zombie emerged in 1775 AD among these slaves; he began calling people to the true faith and encouraged them to break free from slavery. As his followers increased, he announced the establishment of the Islamic State in Brazil, with its center in 'Palmares'. After the expansion of the Islamic State in Brazil, Christians were united to destroy this state. Several crusades took place over decades to eradicate the Islamic State in Brazil,” reads the caption of some of the posts.

Truth:

  • A reverse image search shows that the photo of the bust was originally published on July 3, 2017 in a news report by the Brazilian public broadcaster EBC.
  • The image, whose caption reads “Zumbi dos Palmares,” is attributed to photographer Elza Fiuza of Agência Brasil, Brazil's state news agency.
  • In the original image, the plinth of the bust shows only a plaque with the following phrase in Portuguese: “Zumbi dos Palmares, the Black Leader of All Races”. Unlike the image shared on social media, there is no inscription in Arabic.
  • Zumbi dos Palmares was the last leader of Palmares, an autonomous settlement founded by fugitive slaves in northeastern Brazil. He was born into freedom in Palmares, but was captured and given as a slave to a Catholic priest at the age of six. Zumbi escaped at 15 and returned to Palmares, which was often attacked by the Portuguese. After his uncle's death, Zumbi commanded Palmares for 17 years, leading guerrilla attacks on plantations and freeing slaves. He was betrayed by one of his followers, killed and beheaded by the Portuguese in 1695. In 1997, Zumbi was recognized as a national hero in Brazil, and his death anniversary, November 20, was adopted as Black Consciousness Day in 2003.
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