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The UK’s emergency alerts system is expected to cost up to £25.3 million in its first three years, the government confirmed in Parliament last week. The Cabinet Office had previously declined to give any figure despite requests from Full Fact.
We were in touch with the Cabinet Office after we saw lots of differing and potentially misleading claims about the cost of the emergency alerts system online.
Many suggested that the test alone would cost £22 million, while some posts claimed that £5.7 million was being spent on the test and that the system would then cost £10,000 a day to maintain. We still don’t know how much the test alone cost—we have asked the Cabinet Office again for this figure and are waiting to hear back.
Transparently setting out how much was spent would have provided clarity and helped set straight any false or misleading claims before they spread any further. We’ve now asked the Cabinet Office why it was unable to give details last month of how much the emergency alerts system was expected to cost.
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FACT CHECK
This week we have found more examples of hoax posts in community Facebook buy, sell or trade groups, that falsely raise an alarm and are then later edited to promote freebies, cashback or property listings.
This example sees posts shared across the UK—in local Facebook groups ranging from Northern Ireland, to Dorset, East Sussex and Hampshire—which all claim that a man named William Daniels has gone missing with his dog in the local area.
The posts use the same picture of an elderly man wearing a cap in the driver’s seat of a car, with a black dog sitting beside him in the passenger seat.
The posts use the same text, which says: “Our Dad, William Daniels aged 84 drove out last night with his dog Cami and he still hasn't returned. He doesn’t know where he’s going, he has dementia. There is a silver alert activated on him. Please help bump this post so we can get him home safely.”
But these are not real appeals. Besides the fact it’s impossible for the same man to have gone missing at the same time and in the same circumstances in multiple different places, the pictures used are of a different man who died in the US in 2022.
We have written before about similarly false appeals using pictures of the same man.
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SUPPORTER ACTION
Have you seen or experienced any posts like these?
Reply to this email with any examples of hoax posts you have experienced and help us reduce the risk.
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FACT CHECK
After being contacted by Full Fact, the Sun amended a graph which did not accurately reflect the latest immigration data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The graph appeared to be based on previous quarterly figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), some of which have since been revised upwards.
As a result of these errors, the graph presented the inaccurate impression that net migration increased steeply between the year to June 2022 and the year to December 2022. In reality, ONS figures show that while net migration in the year to December 2022 was higher than a year previously—and, indeed, the highest recorded in a calendar year—it was in fact similar to levels in the year ending June 2022.
We often see graphs and charts which are inaccurate, and this can give an incomplete or misleading picture of matters of public debate. Where official data is presented in an inaccurate or misleading way, it is important that this is corrected as quickly as possible. We’re grateful to The Sun for correcting this error in a timely manner.
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JOBS
Social Media Manager
We’re looking for an expert in social media to help us tackle the spread of misleading claims, hold those responsible to account, and engage and grow our audience of supporters.
Digital Campaigns Manager (Last weekend to apply!)
Help us mobilise millions of people who care about honesty in public debate. We’re looking for an expert in digital campaigns to make sure Full Fact and our supporters are ready for the next election.
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MORE FACT CHECKS
Also this week...
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Stop the spread of bad information
Find these updates useful? We'd be incredibly grateful if you could share our fact checks and help more people access good information.
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All the best,
Team Full Fact
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