January 3, 2025 Scams don’t take a holiday. In fact, it’s safe to expect more of them – on social media, SMS, phone calls or email – around festivities. We spotted one (or perhaps several) on Facebook just before Christmas. It wasn’t a post doing the rounds on a closed group. Instead, it was a […]
Fact-check Malta: Unwrapping disinformation – beware scams targeting events Read More »
December 13, 2024 Reports of HSBC’s looming departure from Malta in September sparked a torrent of speculation over what this meant for the bank’s clients, with some questioning what would happen to their savings and investments once the bank changed hands. The news was seemingly confirmed in recent weeks, with HSBC Malta telling its shareholders
Fact-check Malta: What happens when a bank changes hands? Read More »
November 20, 2024 A recently-resurfaced video clip shows a former Labour Party minister perpetuating misinformation about political murders in Malta. Joe Debono Grech, once a Labour minister in the 1980s and 1990s, was a guest on ‘Madwar Mejda’ (‘Around the Table’), a television programme on ONE, the station owned by Malta’s ruling Labour Party. During
Fact check Malta: Former politician peddles misinformation about political murders Read More »
November 13, 2024 A false story about a lost child, which was called out as a scam by an American TV station earlier this year, has made it to Malta. The post, which carries two identical photos of a young boy, claims the three-year-old was found in Malta and has been taken to a Police
Fact-check Malta: Scam Facebook post about lost three-year-old boy makes it to Malta Read More »
November 7, 2024 A seemingly innocuous measure buried in the budget held on 28 October raised an unexpected furore when Times of Malta flagged that the required years of social security contributions to qualify for a full pension will rise from 41 years to 42 for people born after 1976. The measure quickly became the
Fact-check Malta: Did the budget increase Malta’s retirement age Read More »
October 22, 2024 Poor and tasteless construction is rampant in Malta. So it is no surprise that many Maltese believed that a particular image published on Facebook showed a local building. A reverse image search on Google quickly shows that the building is not in Malta. Search results show that it first went viral in
Fact-check Malta: The country has bad buildings, but this isn’t one of them Read More »
October 16, 2024 If you run a Facebook page, you have most likely received a message stating that unless you take the necessary action your page will be deleted. These messages are fake. Sometimes, this is obvious – the page/profile by which the message was sent might have an obscure name, or its photo might
Fact-check Malta: That message saying your Facebook page will be deleted is fake Read More »
October 16, 2024 The government claims it is on track to fulfil one of its key electoral promises to rebuild all of Malta’s roads, with Transport Minister Chris Bonett recently telling parliament that the project is “95% complete”. But despite this, the government has turned down repeated requests to provide Times of Malta with a list
Fact-check Malta: Has the government rebuilt 1,315 roads? Read More »
September 6, 2024 With the tourist season in full swing, the debate over the type of tourists arriving in Malta, and their impact on Malta’s economy, has once again hit the front pages. Tony Zahra, the president of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, one of Malta’s main tourism lobby groups, was the first to
Fact-check Malta: Are tourists in Malta spending more than they used to? Read More »
August 30, 2024 Have you recently received an “urgent” WhatsApp message from your friend asking you to send them a code? That ‘friend’ is no friend at all but a scammer trying to worm their way into kicking you out of your WhatsApp account. Police have urged the public to take more care as reports of WhatsApp
Fact-check Malta: How scammers are trying to get into your WhatsApp account Read More »
The Mediterranean Digital Media Observatory (MedDMO) is an alliance of fact-checkers, media literacy experts and scientists taking a coordinated approach to combating disinformation and misinformation.
This project has received funding from the European Union under Grant Agreement number 101083756. This website reflects the views only of the independent Consortium, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained herein.