As peddlers of fake news continue flood cyberspace with falsehood to hoodwink the public, The Explainer and Platinum Post detectives have been working round the clock to expose them and fact check their spurious claims. One of such fake news material circulating online is a manipulated graphic purporting to be a screen shot from a CNN news session. The graphic, which also carries the faces of some known CNN carries a short text with the claim that COVID-19 tests figures are being falsified in Nigeria. The Claim; that CNN carried a news item wherein it informed the public that COVID-19 tests results are being falsified in order to reduce the figure of infected persons.
One of the captions on the graphics reads: “COVID-19 cases in Nigeria are false because the government is taking advantage of it to embezzle and launder money to enrich themselves, says CNN.” To fact check this claim, our fake news detectives visited the website of CNN website to trace, if a story on alleged falsification of COVID-19 tests results was aired. The search showed no such story was aired by the international news giant. Subsequently, a close look at the colours of the graphic showed they were way different from the brand colours of CNN. The verdict from the fact check therefore shows no such report on falsification of tests figures in Nigeria was aired on CNN. The graphic in question was only manipulated by peddlers of fake news to misinform and hoodwink the public into believing something that never happened. This particularly fake news apparent attempts to undermine public confidence in the efforts of government to tackle COVID-19, and could also make citizens dismiss the threats posed by the virus.
Fake news peddlers always attempt to undermine facts to achieve their own agenda, and they cause many problems for society; do not spread fake news. Verify sources and truthfulness of all news before believing or sharing.
