Peter Cunliffe-Jones

Social media misinformation driving men to NHS for unneeded testosterone therapy Endocrinologists warn taking testosterone unnecessarily can suppress natural hormone production

"Social media misinformation is driving men to NHS clinics in search of testosterone therapy...(but) taking testosterone unnecessarily can suppress the body’s natural hormone production, cause infertility, and increase the risk of blood clots, heart problems etc."
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Valdez Onanina : « Exposer les mécanismes de désinformation russe est devenu un exercice à haut risque. » Organisation indépendante de fact-checking africaine créée en 2012, Africa Check est présente à Johannesburg, à Dakar, à Nairobi et à Lagos. Journaliste, Valdez Onanina est depuis 2022 le rédacteur en...

In a piece for @rsf.org, Valdez Onanina, chief editor for fact-checking group @fr.africacheck.org, talks about the cost of exposing Russian disinformation networks operating in west Africa; doxing, threats and smears
rsf.org/fr/valdez-on...

YouTube video by Africa Check 2025 African Fact-Checking Awards gala dinner

I think other journalism awards need to up their game.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEBS...

Congratulations on winning the award

10 years ago I came to Dakar and recruited @fr.africacheck.org’s first editor, Assane Diagne, the first factchecker in Francophone Africa.

This week I joined 200 others in Dakar at the fourth #AfricaFactsSummit.

There are many challenges at the moment. The work of this community is reason for hope

How Google shifted from a bastion of accurate information to a steward of free expression After years of rolling out features designed to provide users with factual and accurate information, Google is now touting its commitment to "free expression."

Google’s commitment to free expression “is unwavering and will not bend to political pressure,” Google said, bending to political pressure.
www.cnbc.com/2025/09/26/h...

Big presses too, no?

The polio immunisation program started in the USA in 1955.

Look what happened next.

Some politicians care about facts. Others, not so much

A Royal Parks spokesperson: “We’ve not had any incidents reported to us of people killing or eating swans".

Farage: "Migrants are eating the swans"
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c8...

Two cities at random:

London, England: The crime rate in London was 106.4 crime offences per thousand people for the 2024/25 reporting year, compared with 105.8 in the previous year.

Miami, Florida: In 2023, Miami’s crime index was reported as 283, aligning closely with the national average.

Besides the politics - and I am not all anti Nick Robinson - this is a truly dreadful 'think piece', that doesn't at all explore what free speech actually is and entails.

Why Trump's views on vaccines and paracetamol risk child health The public relies on measured, careful statements rooted in robust scientific research, not conjecture.

"Mel Merritt, head of policy and campaigns at the National Autistic Society said: 'This is dangerous, it's anti-science and it's irresponsible.'

But hey, why would a medical expert know better than a businessman-politician.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Home

Looking forward to taking part in this free online All-Ireland conference today on how corporate policy and mis/disinformation affect public health - and what we can do about it.

It starts in half an hour. Do join if you can. #TurningTheTide2025 #CDOH #PublicHealth
jointpublichealthconference.org

If "free speech" means allowing people to say things you find disagreeable, what's this?

Rivers of Blood – How Enoch Powell poisoned Britain Spotify video

Listening to this today. Seems relevant.

open.spotify.com/episode/3XAW...

Science is real

The deadly toll on journalists in the Gaza war With foreign media barred, Palestinians have reported alone, facing the ‘most deliberate effort to kill and silence’ them ever

"The Israeli military has prevented international journalists from entering and reporting on the war, and has decimated Gaza’s own media community."
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

Reform UK Nottinghamshire council leader bans local newspaper's reporters The Nottingham Post describes the ban as

More details on Reform UK's commitment to freedom of speech: "the principle that freedom of speech must be paired with responsibility and honesty," says Council boss. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

FACTSHEET: Nigeria rebases its economy again – here’s what sets it apart Nigeria has updated how it measures its economy as part of ongoing reforms.

How to get massive economic growth overnight 👇
Change the numbers
africacheck.org/fact-checks/...

Woman falsely linked to viral video involving the PM: How fact checking could have helped – Full Fact When 31-year-old Abby Raworth first realised her photo and name were being shared online—falsely linked to a viral video involving the Prime Minister—she’d thought it was quite funny...

Does factchecking work? Well, do you know what factcheckers do?

@fullfact.org reached out to a woman misidentified in a viral online video. She found it “really helpful… it was the only organisation that tried to contact me to see if there was any truth to the claims.”
fullfact.org/culture-and-...

Spotting the harmful needles in the haystack: How fact-checkers select what to check - Poynter From person-to-person coaching and intensive hands-on seminars to interactive online courses and media reporting, Poynter helps journalists sharpen skills and elevate storytelling throughout their car...

How do fact-checkers select the claims to check? How should we develop a 'harms-based' approach and defend freedom of speech?

Great to work with friend & colleague @mrdudders.bsky.social on this piece for @poynterinstitute.bsky.social

Feedback welcome
www.poynter.org/ifcn/2025/sp...

Four questions to ask to detect false news online Even those working in higher education can fall for misinformation. Ask these four questions to get better at zeroing in on false news

I wrote for @timeshighered.bsky.social blog on questions to spot fake claims

1. Where did the claim come from?
2. What do other, credible sources say?
3. What might make you likely to fall for the claim?
4. What does the context tell you?

More 👇
www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/four-...

Department of State on X: "In Europe, thousands are being convicted for the crime of criticizing their own governments. This Orwellian message won't fool the United States. Censorship is not freedom. https://t.co/kCDhaXCVkC" / X In Europe, thousands are being convicted for the crime of criticizing their own governments. This Orwellian message won't fool the United States. Censorship is not freedom. https://t.co/kCDhaXCVkC

Asked by media to provide any evidence for its wild claim about the United States' traditional allies convicting citizens for criticising governments, the US State Department "declined to comment".

x.com/StateDept/st...

No, mixture of guava leaves, ginseng root, ginger and lemons can’t cure blocked fallopian tubes or endometriosis – see a doctor instead A post circulating on Facebook in South Africa claims that users can cure “blocked fallopian tubes” with a simple mixture of guava leaves, ginseng root...

Some viral posts say guava leaves, ginseng, ginger & lemon can “cure” blocked fallopian tubes or endometriosis. But these remedies don’t work, and promoting them can delay real medical treatment. africacheck.info/endo_fallopi...

Garbage in, garbage out. Methodology matters.

archive.ph/2025.07.09-0...

Little better than to be recognised by your peers, no?

11 years ago, in London, I took part in the first Global Fact-Checking Summit.

Last week in Rio, at #GlobalFact12, I was honoured for ‘outstanding service’ to the fact-checking community worldwide. Couldn’t be more grateful for the journey.

Our sister died because of our mum's cancer conspiracy theories, say brothers Paloma Shemirani’s brothers say she refused chemotherapy because of their mother’s beliefs.

"I wasn't able to stop my sister from dying. But it would mean the world to me if I could make it that she wasn't just another in a long line of people that die in this way," says Gabriel."
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Fake News – What’s the harm? Former news reporter and founder of Africa’s first fact-checking organisation Peter Cunliffe-Jones argues that since concern about ‘information disorder’ soared in 2016, we have laboured under flawed ...

The @uwpress.bsky.social is an open access publisher - so 'FakeNews -Whats the Harm?' is available free as an ebook, as well as being available to buy in print on this link: www.fulcrum.org/concern/mono...

Would love to know your feedback if you read it

Trial finds predictive model helps fact-checkers identify false claims with potential to cause harm - CAMRI

This model was tested in a trial I ran last year with colleagues at AFP, Africa Check and Full Fact examined in a study by independent researchers at University of Wisconsin: camri.ac.uk/blog/2025/04...

And written up last month in The Economist: www.economist.com/internationa...

4. there is a model we can use to help us understand which false claims have a substantive potential to cause substantive real-world harms and which do not.