AFP Canada

McDonald’s has not stopped sourcing beef from Canada

Published on 8 July 2020 at 22:51

A Facebook post shared tens of thousands of times claims that McDonald’s restaurants have chosen to source their beef from the United States instead of Canada. This is false; McDonald's and a representative from the Canadian beef industry say the fast food chain is still using beef from the country.

Hepatitis B vaccine is safe for newborns

Published on 7 July 2020 at 20:57

Social media posts claim that the hepatitis B vaccine is dangerous for newborns, calling the ingredient aluminum toxic. This is false; health experts said the vaccine safely prevents the virus from infecting newborns, eliminating the risk of chronic disease, and confirmed that the amount of aluminum contained in the shot is less than what is ingested by a newborn from breastmilk or formula.

More false claims about ‘Irish slaves’ spread on social media

Published on 7 July 2020 at 20:14

A post shared thousands of times on Facebook says “the majority of the early slaves to the New World were actually white” and that African slaves “were often treated far better than their Irish counterparts.” These claims, and others in the post, are false, according to historians and experts.

Canadian website shared false Trudeau quote from satirical article

Published on 30 June 2020 at 21:06Updated on 30 June 2020 at 22:17

A Facebook post shared 3,000 times claims Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused seniors of stalling efforts against climate change. This is false; the post is inspired by a now-deleted report based on a satirical article void of facts, its author told AFP.

Disgraced US researcher makes false claims about vaccine safety

Published on 26 June 2020 at 00:06Updated on 26 June 2020 at 17:23

A short portion of an interview given by discredited researcher Judy Mikovits, in which she claims that a vaccine for COVID-19 will be deadly, warns against immunization, and advocates for a five-year moratorium to test all vaccines, has been watched tens of thousands of times on YouTube and Facebook. The claims are false; vaccine candidates go through three phases of clinical trials, are carefully monitored for adverse effects, and multiple doctors told AFP vaccines are safe.