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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Technology & AI fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about technology & ai. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

1,815 published reviews in this topic

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaTechnology & AI

MARTINELLI නමැති දුරකථනය හැක් කරන වෛරසයක් අඩංගු WhatsApp පණිවිඩයේ ඇත්ත කතාව!

Publisher’s rating: False

The claim concerns a WhatsApp message warning that a “Martinelli” video will appear and that opening it will hack a phone. The review says the same warning circulated with additional instructions, including not to click “Run” in a supposed WhatsApp update and to avoid a video described as “the Pope’s dance.” It identifies these as parts of the message under investigation, rather than evidence that the videos or the alleged threat were real. (S1: “මාටිනෙලි නමින් වීඩියෝවක් වට්ස්ඇප් වෙතින් හෙට එළියට එන බවත්, එය විවෘත නොකරන ලෙසත්, එමගින් දුරකතනය හැක් වෙන අතර එය නැවත යථා තත්ත්වයට පත් කළ නොහැකි බවත් එහි සඳහන් කර තිබෙනවා.”) The investigation describes the warning as a recurring hoax, saying it had circulated locally and abroad since 2017 and had first begun circulating in Spanish on WhatsApp. It reports that Spanish police called the message false in a Twitter post in July 2017, and that the police statement said there was no “Martinelli” video and WhatsApp users were not at risk from it. The article also points to an Independent report about that police statement. (S1: “2017 වසරේ සිට මෙම පණිවිඩය මෙරට පමණක් නොව විදේශිකයන් අතර ද, සමාජ මාධ්‍ය තුළ මෙම පණිවිඩය හුවමාරු වී තිබුණා. මෙම ව්‍යාජ පණිවිඩ මුලින්ම WhatsApp ඔස්සේ ස්පාඤ්ඤ භාෂාවෙන් හුවමාරු වීම ආරම්භ වී ඇති අතර , 2017 ජූලි මාසයේ දී ස්පාඤ්ඤ පොලීසිය විසින්, මෙය අසත්‍ය පණිවුඩයක් බව සඳහන් කරමින් ට්විටර් පණිවිඩයක් නිකුත් කර තිබුණේ මෙලෙසින්.”) The review further says it found no WhatsApp announcement of such a video or warning, and no BBC message supporting the forwarded warning. It treats the Pope’s-dance part as another unsupported element of the same message. Its conclusion is that the circulated warning is false and advises readers not to forward it without verification. (S1: “WhatsApp ආයතනය විසින්, එවැනි වීඩියෝ හෝ නිවේදනයක් නිකුත් කරන බවට හෝ කිසිදු වාර්තාවක් ද නොමැත.”)

dpaTechnology & AI

Het WEF beveelt microchipimplantaten aan voor kleine kinderen.

Publisher’s rating: onjuist

The claim concerns a WEF website article about microchip implants, which was presented online as a recommendation by the WEF to implant young children. The investigation identifies the post’s immediate source as an Austrian blog, which claimed that the WEF made this recommendation based on an article on the WEF website. The dpa review says that the WEF article was an opinion contribution, not an official statement, and notes that a disclaimer at the end said its content reflected the author’s views and opinions, not those of the WEF. It also reports that a notice was later placed above the article saying it had been deliberately misrepresented on websites spreading fake news. [S1] The review identifies the WEF article’s author as Kathleen Philips, an imec vice-president and director of its Netherlands branch in Eindhoven. It describes her as considering whether society might accept microchip implants and arguing that the technology was ready, while leaving the question of social acceptance to ethical boundaries and public discussion. The quoted example asks whether someone would put a tracking chip in their child, citing safety as a possible reason, but asks whether doing so would cross a line. The review characterizes Philips as favoring consideration of the idea while emphasizing that society should decide through discussion. That hypothetical question and personal argument are not, according to the review, a WEF recommendation. [S1]

FACTLYTechnology & AI

Visuals of a mobile phone exploding for charging it overnight

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The post presents explosion footage as showing what happens when a mobile phone is left charging overnight. The review says the video instead shows an electric scooter battery exploding while charging in an apartment in Shanghai in 2019. Thus, the footage does not establish the phone-related scenario described in the post.

Nation POPTechnology & AI

Netflix

Publisher’s rating: Minha Vênus: um romance leve e saudável na Netflix