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PesaCheck
Nov 13
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A news alert with the branding of Capital FM warning Kenya of an impeding terrorist attack is FAKE.
The message appears as though it emanated from the Kenyan radio station’s news alert message service — GetIT411.
“Kenyans warned to be on a high alert following reports of 5 Alshabaab suicide bombers feared to have sneaked into the country from Somalia,” reads the news alert, with a link to Capital FM website.
The purported news alert does not indicate who has issued the said terror warning.
There is also no information of the news alert on either the Capital FM website or its verified Twitter and Facebook timelines.
In a Facebook post on 28 October 2022, Capital FM disowned the said news alert, dismissing it as fake. The broadcaster also shared the authentic numbers through which users can subscribe for its news alerts.
PesaCheck has examined the news alert purportedly by Capital FM claiming that Kenya is on high alert due to the threat of a terrorist attack, 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 senior fact-checker Simon Muli and edited by PesaCheck senior copy editor Cédrick Irakoze and acting chief copy editor Francis Mwaniki.
The article was approved for publication by PesaCheck’s 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.
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Citizens need accurate information to make sound decisions. PesaCheck is Africa’s largest indigenous fact-checking organisation, debunking misleading claims and deciphering the often confusing numbers quoted by public figures in 15 African countries.
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Are they lying? Kenya’s 1st fact-checking initiative verifies statements by public figures. A @Code4Kenya and @IBP_Kenya initiative, supported by @Code4Africa.
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