FAKE: Kenyans.co.ke didn’t publish this graphic about KTN sending employees home over syphilis
This digital card on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) purportedly of a Kenyans.co.ke coverage that KTN is sending employees home over a syphilis outbreak is FAKE.
KTN is a Standard Group-owned television station.
The 27 March 2024-dated card has an image supposedly of a newsroom and the text, “KTN sends staff home over syphilis outbreak.”
But is the card authentic?
While the card has the Kenyans.co.ke branding, the graphic doesn’t appear on the publisher’s verified X account and Facebook page where such cards are conventionally shared.
Kenyans.co.ke disowned the card on 28 March 2024 and urged the public to disregard it.
“This post did not emanate from our media house. We, therefore, flag it as FAKE. For official communication from Kenyans.co.ke, always visit the official website and verified social media pages,” the media outlet said.
On 27 March 2024, the Standard Group was subjected to online bullying, with a section of users on X using the hashtag #StandardMediaDying. Some netizens claimed that syphilis had rocked KTN.
PesaCheck debunked some of the claims here and here.
In response to the attack, the Standard Group issued a statement terming the syphilis claim fake, and affirming that its services on all platforms were uninterrupted.
PesaCheck examined a digital card on Facebook and X with a report purportedly by Kenyans.co.ke that KTN was sending employees home due to an outbreak of syphilis and found it to be FAKE.
This post is part of an ongoing series of PesaCheck fact-checks examining content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms.
By partnering with Facebook and similar social media platforms, third-party fact-checking organisations like PesaCheck are helping to sort fact from fiction. We do this by giving the public deeper insight and context to posts they see in their social media feeds.
Have you spotted what you think is fake or false information on Facebook? Here’s how you can report. And, here’s more information on PesaCheck’s methodology for fact-checking questionable content.
This fact-check was written by PesaCheck fact-checker Rodgers Omondi and edited by PesaCheck senior copy editor Cédrick Irakoze and acting chief copy editor Francis Mwaniki.
The article was approved for publication by PesaCheck managing editor Doreen Wainainah.
PesaCheck is East Africa’s first public finance fact-checking initiative. It was co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arenstein, and is being incubated by the continent’s largest civic technology and data journalism accelerator: Code for Africa. It seeks to help the public separate fact from fiction in public pronouncements about the numbers that shape our world, with a special emphasis on pronouncements about public finances that shape government’s delivery of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) public services, such as healthcare, rural development and access to water / sanitation. PesaCheck also tests the accuracy of media reportage. To find out more about the project, visit pesacheck.org.
PesaCheck is an initiative of Code for Africa, through its innovateAFRICA fund, with support from Deutsche Welle Akademie, in partnership with a coalition of local African media and other civic watchdog organisations.
