FALSE: This image of a television broadcast claiming that the COVID-19 vaccine enlarges one’s penis is untrue
The image has been created using a meme-generating website, which warns users to avoid creating anything illegal, defamatory or distressing.
A Facebook post with a screenshot of a live broadcast claiming that the COVID-19 vaccine enlarges one’s penis is FALSE.
The screenshot contains a close-up shot of a person being injected with what appears to be a vaccine, and a ‘Breaking News’ ticker running on the lower third.
The headline reads “COVID Vaccine Enlarges Penis!” while the ticker shows a running text that reads “Studies show an average length increase by 23%. Breast increase studies…”
However, the screenshot does not indicate which COVID-19 vaccine the claim is referring to or indicate the study cited.
There are currently two approved Coronavirus vaccines according to a COVID-19 vaccine tracker by The New York Times. One of them is BNT162b2, developed by New York-based Pfizer and German drugmaker BioNTech, and announced in November 2020 as over 90 percent effective.
The second is mRNA-1273, developed by American biotech firm, Moderna, who made a similar announcement, also in November 2020.
Neither the Pfizer/BioNTech clinical trial data nor Moderna’s Primary efficacy analysis of the Phase 3 study of its vaccine indicate an enlarged penis as one of the outcomes or risks.
On the top right corner of the screenshot in question is a watermark that reads breakyourownnews.com, indicating that it was created through the meme generator, Breaks Your Own News and that it does not represent a real broadcast of any particular news channel.
The app allows users to generate ‘live broadcast’ — themed memes by uploading an image of their choice, accompanied by a headline, which can then be shared on social media sites.
PesaCheck’s attempt to recreate the screenshot in question — without the image — yielded similar results.
Break Your Own News, which can be downloaded as an app, however, says that it is intended for fun, humour and parody, and warns users to be careful what they create and how it may be shared.
“You should avoid making things which are unlawful, defamatory or likely to cause distress. Have fun and be kind!” reads a disclaimer on the website.
PesaCheck has looked into the Facebook post with a screenshot of a live broadcast claiming that the COVID-19 vaccine enlarges one’s penis, and finds it to be FALSE.
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 news 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 Simon Muli and edited by PesaCheck deputy editor Rose Lukalo. It was approved for publication by managing editor Enock Nyariki.
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.
