Vaccinated pilot did not die mid-flight
A social media post repeats a widely debunked claim that a pilot working for a US airline died during a flight. Read
Fact checks
Tom Norton
Journalist (former)
Tom joined Full Fact as a journalist in February 2021 from his position as finance correspondent at the Health Service Journal. He previously worked for the Nottingham Post as its health correspondent. He also worked as an Investigations Executive for the UK advertising regulator the Advertising Standards Authority.
Official LEGO donation service not yet available in UK
A Facebook post incorrectly suggests that you can donate LEGO to the company’s official charity scheme, currently only available in the US and Canada. Read
Fact checks
Canada is not implementing a social credit scheme
A Facebook post falsely claims a scheme that monitors the actions of businesses and citizens and uses financial sanctions as punishments will soon be used in Canada. Read
Fact checks
Two doctors with same name cause Times letter confusion
A social media post incorrectly claims that a letter written to The Times was from a doctor who died in 2016. Read
Fact checks
NASA didn’t paste a picture of the Earth into photos from the moon
An Instagram video makes a number of bizarre claims about NASA manipulating footage from space and its Apollo programme. Read
Fact checks
Emergency services can’t use the numbers on street lamps to find you
A social media post wrongly suggests that numbering on street lamps will let emergency services know exactly where you are. Read
Fact checks
Social media post appears to overstate risk of vaccine blood clots
A Facebook post implies the risk of developing a blood clot or heart problem from a Covid-19 vaccine outweighs the benefits. Read
Fact checks
No, the ‘P’ on your passport does not stand for ‘peasant’
A Facebook post falsely claims that the capital ‘P’ which appears on passports under “type” stands for “peasants”. Read
Fact checks
Health
Daily Mail report on GPs seeing fewer patients on Fridays needs more context
There are some important caveats to figures showing GP appointments drop off later in the week. Read
Fact checks
Thousands of sea turtles did not hatch on Indian beach this week
A Facebook post falsely suggests that hundreds of thousands of sea turtles hatched at a beach in India. Read
Fact checks
