What is circulating vs the facts

What is circulating

“On Truth Social, Trump contrasted Brazil's fast vote count with U.S. cities such as Detroit and Philadelphia, where he said results "will often take weeks to Rig, I mean, calculate."”

Claimed by Donald Trump · social media

The facts

PolitiFact rated the claim Pants on Fire, its lowest rating. Brazil runs a single national system with uniform voting machines and no mail voting, while U.S. states set their own mail ballot deadlines and certification rules, which makes some counts slower. Counting speed is not evidence of fraud, and experts found no significant fraud in Brazil's 2022 election either.

Fact check: PolitiFact

What is circulating

“At a rally in Perry, Georgia, Trump said of gasoline prices: "You're still paying lower than (under) Biden and Obama."”

Claimed by Donald Trump · official statement

The facts

PolitiFact rated the claim Half True. With a national average of $4.42, prices were higher than at any point under Obama, when they never topped $4.17, and above $4 for most of Trump's second term, compared with about 11% of Biden's term. Measured as a share of household income, however, gasoline is currently more affordable than in most Obama and Biden years.

Fact check: PolitiFact

What is circulating

“At a CBS News town hall, Vice President JD Vance blamed Biden-era refinery closures for high gasoline prices, saying "we had about 20% of American refining capacity that went offline."”

Claimed by JD Vance · official statement

The facts

PolitiFact rated the claim False. The 20% figure applies to California's gasoline refining capacity, not the national total, and U.S. refinery utilisation stayed relatively stable under both Biden and Trump. The main driver of higher prices was the Iran war that began on February 28, 2026.

Fact check: PolitiFact

What is circulating

“A video shows former President Megawati Soekarnoputri announcing business capital aid for small businesses, with recipients told to confirm via WhatsApp.”

Claimed by Facebook posts · social media

The facts

Kompas found no such programme from Megawati; the posts from September and October 2026 directed people to WhatsApp numbers in a pattern typical of fraud.

Fact check: Kompas.com Cek Fakta

What is circulating

“President Prabowo has made driving licences (SIM) valid for life, so they no longer need renewing every five years.”

Claimed by Facebook posts · social media

The facts

No such rule has been issued; driving licences still have to be renewed every five years. Kompas rated the posts circulating from 4 October 2026 a hoax.

Fact check: Kompas.com Cek Fakta

What is circulating

“Responding to haze reaching Malaysia and Singapore, the Bakom chief said in October 2026 that the forest and land fires were "beyond human error, this is truly nature."”

Claimed by Syahganda Nainggolan, head of the Government Communication Agency (Bakom) · official statement

The facts

National police investigators said the dominant cause found in fire cases is deliberate burning to clear land, along with uncontrolled fires, and hundreds of individuals and dozens of companies have been named in fire cases. Experts cited by Kompas said peatland drainage canals for plantations make land far more flammable.

Fact check: Kompas.com Cek Fakta

What is circulating

“At a cabinet meeting on 21 October 2026, Airlangga told the President that unemployment of 4.65 percent was "the lowest since 1994."”

Claimed by Airlangga Hartarto, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs · official statement

The facts

The number matches BPS: open unemployment was 4.65 percent in May 2026, against 4.36 percent in 1994. Kompas, citing a Celios economist, called the framing misleading because BPS counts anyone who worked at least one hour a week, even unpaid, as employed, about 60 percent of workers are informal, and new job creation roughly halved between 2025 and 2026.

Fact check: Kompas.com Cek Fakta

What is circulating

“Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. exposed a list of pro-China officials and told them to resign.”

Claimed by Facebook users · social media

The facts

On 2 August 2026 Teodoro said officials who could not conform to Administrative Order 29 on the West Philippine Sea should resign, but he named no one and later dismissed a challenge to do so. The graphic listing the vice president and several senators showed signs of AI generation, and VERA Files rated it fake. Its posts and reels reached about 681,000 views.

Fact check: VERA Files

What is circulating

“Former Federal Territories Minister Zaliha Mustafa officiated groundbreaking ceremonies for new Myanmar refugee settlements and backed the resettlement of new refugees.”

Claimed by Social media posts · social media

The facts

No record of such a ceremony has been shown. Zaliha said on 27 September 2026 that the photo used as evidence was taken on 12 August 2025 at an ASEAN urban sustainability forum in Kuala Lumpur that was open to public registration, and that she does not know the man pictured. As Federal Territories minister she set up the KL Strike Force, whose first operation raided an illegal Myanmar refugee settlement in Sentul.

Fact check: The Star

What is circulating

“A letter signed by Federal Territories Minister Hannah Yeoh ordered former prime minister Najib Razak to be placed under house arrest.”

Claimed by Social media users · social media

The facts

Yeoh said on 18 September 2026 that she never signed any house arrest order and that the Pardons Board had not yet decided the matter; her office lodged a report with the authorities. The Federal Territories Pardons Board, chaired by the King, had deferred Najib's application at its 11 September meeting.

Fact check: The Vibes

What is circulating

“The Road Transport Department (JPJ) proposed allowing Rohingya refugees to obtain driving licences in Malaysia.”

Claimed by Facebook account styled as a news outlet · social media

The facts

JPJ said on 24 September 2026 that the claim was false and that it had filed a report with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission. The post paired a fabricated headline with a real photo of JPJ officers at a press conference.

Fact check: The Vibes

What is circulating

“Deputy Prime Minister Songsak Thongsri told Channel 7 that people should ignore flood warnings from popular pages because 'there will definitely be no flooding'.”

Claimed by Facebook user · social media

The facts

The clip is AI-generated: Facebook labelled it, Hive Moderation rated it 74.1 percent likely synthetic, and it showed unreadable bus text and a licence plate that matches no Thai format. Songsak's only Channel 7 interview in that period was at Government House on 23 September 2026. The fake clip reached about 780,000 views.

Fact check: Thai PBS Verify

What is circulating

“A video shared in September 2026 claimed to show Prime Minister Narendra Modi's microphone being switched off during his speech at the 2026 BRICS summit in New Delhi.”

Claimed by Social media posts · social media

The facts

The Quint's WebQoof rated the claim False. The footage carries a "Brasil" mark and matches an X post from 7 July 2025, when the 17th BRICS summit was held in Rio de Janeiro. No reports showed Modi's microphone being cut at the 2026 summit.

Fact check: The Quint

What is circulating

“In a speech at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas on 10 September 2026, Kennedy said American children are "the sickest children in the history of the world."”

Claimed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Health and Human Services Secretary · official statement

The facts

PolitiFact rated the claim False. For most of history about half of children died before puberty, and in 1900 one in five U.S. children died before age 5, while the U.S. under-5 mortality rate is now about 80 percent below the global average. U.S. children ages 1 to 19 did have a mortality rate 80 percent higher than peers in other rich countries from 2007 to 2022, but that does not support the claim.

Fact check: PolitiFact

What is circulating

“A 21 September 2026 post said former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper was "in New York speaking at a New York Times 'Climate Forward' event" when Hurricane Helene hit the state.”

Claimed by Donald Trump (Team Trump campaign account on X) · social media

The facts

PolitiFact rated the claim False. Cooper attended the event on 25 September 2024 and was back in North Carolina by 3 p.m. that day, while Helene made landfall in Florida about two days later, at 3:10 a.m. on 27 September. Cooper held an 11 a.m. briefing in Raleigh that day, had declared a state of emergency on 25 September, and more than 350 National Guard members had been deployed.

Fact check: PolitiFact

What is circulating

“A photo shows a Koperasi Desa Merah Putih building buried by a landslide that killed dozens of people.”

Claimed by Social media users · social media

The facts

The image did not appear in any credible news report. A SynthID watermark showed it was generated or edited with Google's Gemini, and Hive Moderation and Sightengine rated it 92.3 and 99 percent likely to be AI-generated.

Fact check: Kompas.com Cek Fakta

What is circulating

“Coordinating Food Minister Zulkifli Hasan said: "The people's duty is only to pay taxes, not to interfere in government affairs."”

Claimed by Social media users · social media

The facts

The photo used comes from an Antara report on Zulhas's visit to Kupang on 2 August 2025, where he asked regional heads to empower the Merah Putih village cooperatives. PAN's youth wing BM PAN said the quote was a hoax, and no record of such a statement was found.

Fact check: Kompas.com Cek Fakta

What is circulating

“Land Minister Nusron Wahid said every minister paid corruption proceeds to Jokowi, except Gibran.”

Claimed by Social media users · social media

The facts

The headline attributed to Gelora News on 17 September 2026 does not exist on that site. Its photo and date match an article headlined "Suspected tribute mafia at the ATR/BPN Ministry," which quoted a political analyst, not Nusron.

Fact check: Kompas.com Cek Fakta

What is circulating

“Photos show Vice President Sara Duterte visiting a Moro Islamic Liberation Front camp and being greeted by fighters ahead of the 2026 Bangsamoro polls.”

Claimed by social media posts · social media

The facts

Rappler found the photos are fake. Regional police said Duterte had not visited the area recently, and the detection tools Hive Moderation and Image Whisperer flagged both images as likely AI-generated.

Fact check: Rappler

What is circulating

“The Supreme Court dismissed the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte.”

Claimed by Facebook page Oskarkilo Vlog · social media

The facts

VERA Files found no dismissal in Supreme Court announcements or Senate impeachment court records. The Senate trial had run 31 session days as of 29 September, and the court only ruled on separate petitions about procedure.

Fact check: VERA Files