It's Your Week. Don't get duped by fake Ukraine news
It's Sunday, everyone. I'm Sallee Ann and I hope your day is going well and your luxury car has not drowned in the ocean after catching on fire. Yes, that happened.
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Battling misinformation from Ukraine
As you scroll through Facebook or Twitter, you've probably seen posts that just seem... off. Or maybe a relative has forwarded you an email that makes you go... "wait, what?" Whether it's information lacking context or shoddy Photoshop work, there's a lot of misinformation out there. We have a team to help.
Martina Stewart is senior editor of our fact-check team, which has been working in overdrive with all of the misinformation coming out of Ukraine. They're looking out for you and championing truth.
"Our fact-checking team does extraordinary work every day but it is times like the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine, the end of 2020 which was dominated by baseless election fraud claims and key moments during the COVID-19 pandemic of the past two years when the value of our work becomes clear on a wider scale," Stewart told Your Week. "We consider it a privilege to do this important work."
"Since 2020 I have learned a lot – about the power and the pitfalls of social media, about the fragility of our informational environment (and therefore our politics) and about the need for basic media literacy skills. As the 2022 midterm year begins, my advice would be: Pause before you share and hug a fact-checker if you happen to know one!"
Want to send a virtual hug to our fact-check team? Read some of their latest work and share with a friend (or Facebook frenemy):
- What's true and what's false about the Russian invasion of Ukraine: A roundup of claims related to the Ukraine-Russia conflict
- Viral video shows train in California, not convoy headed to Ukraine
- Fake Time magazine cover compares Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler
- Viral image shows child wounded in Syria bombing, not Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Viral image of Volodymyr Zelenskyy in uniform is from 2021
Follow us
Fact-check reporter Daniel Funke has been keeping an ongoing Twitter thread of the team's work. It has been retweeted upwards of 14,000 times; it's what caught my own attention and was the catalyst for this week's newsletter. You can follow Daniel and the whole team with this handy Twitter list.
For more Ukraine news, be sure to follow our reporters and editors who are devoted to round-the-clock, comprehensive coverage.
(And don't forget to sign up for Your Day 😉)
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See you next week!