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| - AFP's fact-check service debunks misinformation spread online. Here are some of our recent fact-checks: An accusation circulated widely online claiming that Wayfair, the US furniture retailer, trafficks children via high-priced items that share names with missing children. The claim, however, is false. "There is, of course, no truth to these claims," a Wayfair spokeswoman told AFP, adding that product names are determined by an algorithm. The various children named in the hoax were not missing at the time it emerged, police said. Multiple Facebook posts written in traditional Chinese claimed that Facebook had adopted a new privacy policy to gain access to users' photos which "can be used in court proceedings against you". The posts were published in early July 2020, shortly after China imposed a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong. Facebook, however, denied the claim, saying in a statement that the platform had made "no changes" to users' privacy settings. A video purportedly showing a black man calling for the mass murder of white and Asian people was viewed tens of thousands of times in multiple posts on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Weibo alongside claims that it relates to the Black Lives Matter movement in the US in June 2020. The footage, however, was shot in 2019 during an unrelated protest in France. An image that appears to show an advert on Facebook supporting paedophilia was shared repeatedly in multiple posts on the platform. The posts claimed the image, which features a purported logo for the US media organisation TED and other paedophilia associated symbols, was a genuine Facebook advert. The claim is false. Facebook said that no such advert was ever published on the platform and TED said the purported advert was a "blatant misuse" of its logo. Online posts viewed thousands of times claim that a 14-minute audio message covering various conspiracy theories about COVID-19's origin was voiced by Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo. The claim is false. The recording does not match Akufo-Addo's voice, AFP found. His information minister dismissed the claim as "obviously false". 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. afp
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