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About
Africa Check is a non-profit fact checking organization based in South Africa. The organization gained notoriety on Instagram and became a popular subject of memes after it tagged Instagram memes about an RFID chip being located in a tire valve stem as false information.
History
In June 2012, non-profit fact checking organization Africa Check was launched in South Africa.[1] Since 2012, the organization has been involved into fact-checking viral claims about South Africa in traditional and social media, later expanding its list of serviced countries to include Kenya, Nigeria and Senegral.
Instagram Fact-Checking
On December 16th, 2019, Instagram[2] introduced a platform-wide fact-checking system. Third-party fact-checking organizations such as Africa Check and others were giving access to tagging Instagram posts as false information (example shown below). Posts deemed false by fact-checkers are blurred and contain warnings such as "Partly False Information" and "False Information." Additionally, the image matching technology automatically tag copies of posts deemed false by the fact-checkers.
Related Memes
Africa Checked
On December 18th, 2019, Instagram[3] user salad.snake posted a meme that baited viewers into thinking that a valve stem on a car tire is an RFID chip. This posts, as well as copies of the meme posted by other Instagram meme accounts, were tagged false by Africa Check.
Incorrect: ID chips not in tyre’s valve stem, so don’t snip!
Following the spread of the Tire RFID posts, Africa Check gained popularity in memes and comments on the platform, particularly in Vibe Check format. For example, a Did You Seriously Talk During Independent Reading Time post by Instagram[4] user thugbobs received over 5,000 likes in two days (shown below, left), with a repost by yourlordandsaviourrealjesus[5] gaining over 54,000 likes. A Vibe Check post by Instagram[6] user chiefkiefsalsa received over 190 likes in two days, with a repost by lolhylian[7] receiving over 26,400 likes (shown below, right).
Various Examples
Search Interest
External References
[1] Wikipedia – Africa Check
[2] Facebook Blog – Combatting Misinformation on Instagram
[3] Instagram – salad.snake
[5] Instagram – yourlordandsaviorrealjesus
[6] Instagram – chiefkeefsalsa
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