AFP Philippines

Coconut oil is not an antibiotic and it cannot prevent dengue fever

Published on 15 July 2019 at 11:00

Claims that coconut oil is an antibiotic and can prevent dengue fever have circulated for years in widely-shared social media posts in countries including the Philippines and India. The claims are false; experts including the World Health Organization have told AFP that coconut oil is not an antibiotic and can neither prevent nor cure dengue fever.

The images have been doctored from original photographs by Getty Images and Philstar.com

Published on 8 July 2019 at 11:30

A meme has been shared hundreds of times in a Facebook post which claims it shows the arrest of Joel Apolinario, the Philippine founder of a religious organisation. The claim is false; the photos included in the meme have been doctored to include the face of Apolinario.

No, this photo does not show a road built under Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's flagship infrastructure program

Published on 4 July 2019 at 09:30

A photo of a truck that has fallen through a road has been shared hundreds of times in multiple posts on Facebook which claim it shows a collapsed street that was constructed under Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s flagship infrastructure program. The claim is false; the road in the photo is not one of the official projects listed under the program on the government’s website.

No, these photos do not show Donald Trump and Moon Jae-in holding K-pop ‘light sticks’

Published on 3 July 2019 at 09:30

Two photos have been shared more than one hundred times in multiple Facebook posts which claim they show South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump holding ‘light sticks’ for Korean pop group EXO. The claim is false; the images have been doctored from original photos in which the two presidents were not holding any objects.

No, these photos do not show students walking out of a Philippine opposition senator's speech

Published on 1 July 2019 at 07:30

An online article shared hundreds of times on Facebook contains photos of students alongside claims they “started to walk out” of a speech by a Philippine politician. The photos are being used in a misleading context; one image is of an unrelated protest and the other shows students making a dance video. Both images were produced before the lawmaker was elected in 2016.

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