Dear Friend,

In the newsletter this week...
But first...

News that Meta, the world’s largest social media company, is scrapping its partnership with fact checkers in the US has reverberated around the world. 

We’ve strongly refuted much of what Meta has said about their reasons for the change, particularly that fact checkers are politically biased, or that we encourage censorship.
Find out more...
Full Fact has been a proud contributor to the Third Party Fact Checking initiative (TPFC) since January 2019 and in those six years we’ve checked 2,596 cases which include misleading, faked, or potentially harmful posts on Facebook and other platforms.
 
Many of these cases relate to some of the biggest national and international stories like elections, major conflicts, viral conspiracy theories, and public health.
Best wishes, 

Craig, Digital Campaigns Manager—Full Fact
FACT CHECKS

How many children have been the victims of grooming gangs in the UK?
Some widely shared posts on social media—including one shared on X by the platform’s owner, the businessman Elon Musk—have claimed that more than a million children have been victims of “grooming gangs” in the UK. We’ve also seen different estimates for the number of victims circulating, such as a figure of over 250,000.

We have not been able to find a reliable estimate for the total number of victims, however. We therefore cannot say whether the figures quoted in these posts are right or wrong.
Read more

The NHS does send patients texts
On 5 January, health secretary Wes Streeting said: “You book a table in a restaurant these days—or even an appointment at the hairdresser—you’ll get a text message 24 or 48 hours in advance to remind you. Why doesn’t the NHS do this?”

But many NHS services already do send patients reminders via text.
Read more
Support Full Fact
 
Losing the cooperation of an organisation like Meta could seriously disrupt our ability to challenge online misinformation. As a registered charity, Full Fact relies on the public to support our independent, impartial fact checking and advocacy work.  

Please support Full Fact with a monthly gift of £10 
 

Daily Express misstates small boat arrivals data
A video of Reform UK leader and Clacton MP Nigel Farage has been shared on social media, claiming Mr Farage “says he will do nothing for the black community”. But this clip is missing important context. 

While Mr Farage did say this, the quote circulating online has been taken out of context, as the video stops mid-sentence before Mr Farage completes his comments. He went on to say: “I couldn’t give a damn whether you’re black or white, whether you’re gay or straight. I really don’t care. You’ll be judged by your character.”
Read more

Government tracker

Full Fact’s most recent updates to our tracker of government policy.
Thursday 9th January
Monday 6th January
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Thursday 2nd January
Discover our Government tracker
Also this week...
Read our latest fact checks
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All the best,
Team Full Fact

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