Amazon Alexa hasn't been giving some users all the facts

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Dear Friend,

In the newsletter this week...
1. ‘Skinny jab’ trial is not funded with public money (#body1)
2. Video of man falling from window is unrelated to Liam Payne’s death (#body2)
3. What are the rules on foreigners volunteering in US elections? (#body3)
4. Also this week... (#morefacts)

But first...

A reader recently got in touch to let us know that Amazon’s Alexa, when asked questions on a range of topics, ([link removed]) replied with false or misleading claims, in some cases citing Full Fact as the source of the false information, rather than giving the accurate verdict from our fact check.

In response to the question “Echo, were the Northern Lights recently seen worldwide a natural occurrence?”, Alexa replied: “From fullfact.org—the Northern Lights seen in many parts of the world recently were not a natural occurrence, but generated by the HAARP facility in Alaska.”

This is not correct ([link removed]) .

Amazon told us on Wednesday 16 October that they were “working to resolve this issue”. While we can’t be certain, this may now have happened, as when we checked later that day we were unable to replicate the incorrect responses we’d found earlier.

We have contacted Amazon again to try to understand what went wrong, when the problem started, and how they plan to prevent it from reoccurring.

This is a serious issue and we’re interested if any of our readers have encountered similar issues with Alexa or any other interactive voice assistant.

As always please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you spot anything by contacting us at [email protected]
Best wishes,

Craig, Digital Campaigns Manager—Full Fact


** ‘Skinny jab’ trial is not funded with public money ([link removed])
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The pharmaceutical company Lilly, which makes the weight loss drug tirzepatide, aka Mounjaro, has recently announced a £280 million investment in the UK to trial the so-called ‘skinny jab’. We’ve seen some confusion online, however, with some social media users thinking this is a commitment by the UK government to spend taxpayers’ money to fund the trial.

This is incorrect. The five-year trial into the use of tirzepatide for people living with obesity will be funded entirely by Lilly.
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** Video of man falling from window is unrelated to Liam Payne’s death ([link removed])
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A video of a man falling from a window is being shared online with claims it shows former One Direction singer Liam Payne, who died in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Not true. The video is from a 2023 fire in Mexico City and is unrelated to the singer’s death.
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** What are the rules on foreigners volunteering in US elections? ([link removed])
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Donald Trump’s campaign has filed a complaint to the US Federal Election Commission (FEC), in response to reports of current and former Labour party staff preparing to campaign in support of Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris ahead of the US election.

This is a complex topic, for more context read our breakdown of what the rules do and don't say about foreign volunteers campaigning in US elections.

Read more ([link removed])
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* Flooded Disney World image is AI generated ([link removed])
* Another edited image of Kamala Harris with Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs circulates online ([link removed])
* Microwaves are safe if used properly ([link removed])

Read our latest fact checks ([link removed])
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Team Full Fact


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