42% of Russia-Ukraine War Misinformation Originated on Telegram
42% of Russia-Ukraine War Misinformation Originated on Telegram
PLUS: A Travis Kelce Hoax Gets Spread for Cash; No, Tim Walz Did Not Misidentify His Dog
Welcome to Reality Check, your inside look at how misinformation online is undermining trust — and who’s behind it.
Today:
Forty-two percent of misinformation about Russia-Ukraine war traced by NewsGuard originated on Telegram
False story about NFL star Travis Kelce turns into a clickbait ad goldmine
Betraying Scout’s honor? Tim Walz accused of lying about his dog
And more…
Today’s newsletter was edited by Jack Brewster, Eric Effron, and Sofia Rubinson
1. Forty-two Percent of Russia-Ukraine Myths With Known Origins Traced to Telegram
By Eva Maitland
What happened: Forty-two percent of the claims that NewsGuard has debunked about the Russia-Ukraine war, and was able to identify the origins of, started on Telegram, a new analysis by NewsGuard has found.
Context: Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, was arrested by French authorities on Aug. 24, 2024. Durov, a Russian-born entrepreneur, faces multiple charges, including allegations of failing to prevent illegal activities on his platform, money laundering, and the distribution of child sexual abuse material.
Telegram is a messaging app known for a commitment to privacy, which has made it popular among users who prefer platforms with minimal oversight.
NewsGuard has found it plays an important role in the Russian disinformation landscape, with Russian state media often citing the platform to back up false claims.
Following Durov’s arrest, NewsGuard analyzed how often Telegram has been used to circulate false claims related to the Russia-Ukraine war.
A closer look: Since the Russia-Ukraine war began in February 2022, NewsGuard has debunked 243 false or misleading narratives related to the conflict. Of the 243, NewsGuard was able to identify the origins of 117 of them.
Of the 117, we found that 50 originated on Telegram. This means that 42 percent of the debunked narratives with identifiable origins were traced back to Telegram.
(Note: Establishing the exact origins of a false claim can be challenging, due to the difficulty of searching across multiple platforms and languages.)
Some of the most prominent false Russia-Ukraine war claims that originated on Telegram include that:
Note: This Reality Check includes links to NewsGuard’s Misinformation Fingerprints — a constantly updated catalog of the top false narratives spreading online. To view these links, you must be a paid Reality Check subscriber or have a license to NewsGuard’s Fingerprints.
A video of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a conference call shows cocaine on his desk. (Misinformation Fingerprint licensee link / Reality Check subscriber link)
France 24 TV reported that French President Emmanuel Macron canceled his February 2024 trip to Kyiv because Ukrainian intelligence was plotting to assassinate him. (Misinformation Fingerprint licensee link / Reality Check subscriber link)
A photo shows 17-year-old girls being recruited into the Ukrainian army. (Misinformation Fingerprint licensee link / Reality Check subscriber link)
A secret document proves that NATO was planning a war against Russia. (Misinformation Fingerprint licensee link / Reality Check subscriber link)
Dozens of French mercenaries were killed in a January 2024 Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. (Misinformation Fingerprint licensee link / Reality Check subscriber link)
Tricks of their trade: The claims that originated on Telegram follow a clear pattern.
Nineteen involved videos designed to mimic credible Western media outlets, using this guise to spread falsehoods about the war.
Six videos imitated the BBC, falsely claiming that Ukraine smuggled Western-donated weapons to the Palestinian militant group Hamas, that Ukrainian refugees set fire to a Polish warehouse, and that the former head of the Ukrainian army was paid $53 million to abandon his political ambitions.
Who’s behind it: These false claims come from various sources, including the official channel for the Russian Ministry of Defence, pro-Kremlin influencers, and Ukrainian pro-Kremlin politicians. However, the largest group of sources are anonymous pro-Kremlin channels.
Telegram did not reply to two messages from NewsGuard sent through the Telegram Press Team channel, inquiring about the platform’s policies toward and moderation of disinformation.
Zack Fishman contributed reporting.
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2. Facebook Network Rakes in Ad Dollars with False NFL, Travis Kelce Claim
What happened: A network of more than 200 Facebook accounts is pushing false information about NFL star Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs, aiming to direct users to third-party, made-for-advertising websites to generate ad revenues from unsuspecting top brands, NewsGuard found.
The campaign appears to be an effort to capitalize on Kelce’s rise to international fame since he began dating Taylor Swift.
Context: Made-for-advertising sites — AKA “content farms” — have been around since the early 2000s, gaining prominence as online advertising models evolved. These sites often rely on sensationalized or misleading content to attract clicks and generate ad revenue.
A closer look: The 206 Facebook accounts NewsGuard identified all shared a post in August 2024 featuring an out-of-date photo of Kelce alongside the identical, false caption, stating: “Travis Kelce took a knee during the national anthem, a move that cost him a staggering $10 million fine and an immediate ejection from the game.”
The accounts often adopted deceptive names, including the names of sports fanbases and made-up news outlets, such as “Baltimore Ravens Fans” and “Daily News.”
Actually: The claim that the NFL fined Travis Kelce $10 million for kneeling during the national anthem is false, PolitiFact (NewsGuard Trust Score: 100/100) first reported.
The narrative was originally shared by self-described satire outlet SpaceXMania.com in October 2023, before being misrepresented as fact by the content farms in August 2024.
In 2017, Kelce did kneel for the national anthem at a game, amid athlete protests against alleged police brutality and racial inequality, according to the Kansas City Star (Trust Score: 92.5/100.)
However, the NFL did not fine Kelce after the incident. Spotrac.com, a site that tracks NFL fines, does not show that Kelce has been fined for kneeling at any point during his 11-year professional football career. The photo of Kelce that is being circulated now is of this 2017 incident.
Tricks of their trade: The Facebook accounts all seem to have been created with the goal of serving ads unintentionally by brands to unsuspecting visitors.
The pinned comments typically link to a website containing a full article advancing the false claim about Kelce and featuring up to a dozen programmatic ads.
In directions pinned to the top of the comments section, the Facebook posts urge users to read the "full story” about Kelce at one of the domains of the content farm.
This tactic of linking to websites in comment sections allows content farms to evade Meta’s algorithmic restrictions on external links as the platform deprioritizes posts containing outside links to prevent off site traffic. By placing the content farm link in the pinned comment rather than directly in the post, the content and the link are less likely to be identified by Meta, making it more likely to reach users without being downranked or flagged.
For example, a NewsGuard analyst visited the link pinned to an Aug. 19, 2024, “Baltimore Ravens Fans” post about the false Kelce claim and was redirected to a site that featured 12 programmatic advertisements for top brands, including for YouTube TV, Vrbo, and 1-800 Flowers.
By the numbers: Posts advancing the false claim collectively generated 153,000 likes, 49,000 comments, and 10,000 shares as of Aug. 27, 2024.
The NFL and NFL Players’ Association did not respond to August 2024 requests for comment. NewsGuard sent an email to Meta seeking comment on the findings, as well as to YouTube, Vrbo, and 1-800 Flowers, but did not receive a response.
Click here to find out more about NewsGuard Trust Scores and our process for rating websites. You can download NewsGuard’s browser extension, which displays NewsGuard Trust Score icons next to links on search engines, social media feeds, and other platforms by clicking here.
3. And one more thing … Ruff News for Dems: Tim Walz Hounded by Fake Dog Claim
Tim Walz’s black Labrador retriever mix is the center of the latest false claim attacking the Democratic nominee for vice president.
What happened: Conservatives claim that Tim Walz misrepresented the identity of his dog, Scout, citing two social media posts he made in 2022 featuring different dogs.
The Walz family adopted their dog Scout, a black Labrador retriever mix, in September 2019.
A closer look: A now-deleted Oct. 19, 2022, post on Walz’s X account featured a photo of Walz kneeling next to a tan dog with the caption: “Couldn’t think of a better way to spend a beautiful fall day than at the dog park. I know Scout enjoyed it.”
Although Walz did not claim that the tan dog in the photo was Scout, some social media users pointed out on Aug. 26, 2024, that in other posts where Walz referenced Scout, the dog was black.
Most cited a June 15, 2022, X post by Walz, which showed him next to a black Labrador with the caption: “Sending a special birthday shoutout to our favorite pup, Scout.”
Actually: Walz did not misidentify his dog. The photo cited as proof in fact showed another dog that played with Walz’s dog, Scout, at a dog park.
On Oct. 22, 2022, three days after he posted the image of the tan dog, Walz posted an Instagram video showing the tan dog playing with his black dog, Scout, at a dog park. The thumbnail of that video is the same photo that he posted on Twitter.
A NewsGuard review of Walz’s X posts containing the word “Scout” found that all other posts feature photos of the black Labrador mix.
Who’s behind it? Conservative users behind the claim raised questions about whether Walz knew his own dog, Scout.
TikTok user @TheOlderMillennial.1 posted a video in which he stated: “Do any of you know what breed and color Tim Walz’s dog Scout is? I’m only asking because I can tell you who doesn’t know — Tim Walz.” He continued: “I guess Scout decided to wear blackface this day, which would be totally not cool. My question is: Does Tim Walz even actually have a dog? Or is this sh*t just photo ops?”
Podcaster Kimberly Guilfoyle, who is the fiancée of Donald Trump Jr., posted the two dog photos with the caption: “Wait so Walz is even lying about his dog? Ruff stuff,” which received approximately 120,000 views and 650 likes in six hours.
In response to NewsGuard’s inquiry, @TheOlderMillennial.1 said in a direct message: “I was simply asking the question. Considering the fact that Walz has been shown to be dishonest about so many things…”
NewsGuard also sent an email to Guifoyle but did not receive a response.
Context: This is not the first time a dog has been the center of a false claim. In May 2024, left-leaning social media users and websites falsely claimed a photo showed South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s deceased dog, Cricket. The photo went viral after Noem faced backlash for writing in her memoir “No Going Back” that she killed her “extremely dangerous” 14-month-old dog Cricket 20 years ago.
In fact, the photo was of a completely different dog named “Blue,” owned by a random Reddit user.
By the numbers: Ten. That’s the number of false claims about Walz that NewsGuard has identified since the Minnesota governor became Kamala Harris’ running mate on Aug. 6, 2024. Another example: The false claim that a newly-surfaced video shows Walz belly dancing while wearing a cowboy hat, with dollar bills stuck into his waistband. (The video is a digitally manipulated deepfake.)
Sarah Komar contributed reporting.
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