A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out.
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CLAIM: A deadly contagion known as Disease X is emerging and under discussion at the World Economic Forum鈥檚 2024 annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
THE FACTS: Disease X is not real. It is the name given to a hypothetical pathogen that is being used to help plan for future health crises. Global healthcare experts this week spoke on called 鈥淧reparing for Disease X.鈥 The name was coined by the World Health Organization in 2018. In the days leading up to Wednesday鈥檚 panel on the topic, social media users began sharing a range of posts misrepresenting Disease X as real, and portraying it as an imminent threat to society. 鈥淒isease X is the mystery contagion that the World Economic Forum is having a meeting about TODAY!鈥 reads one Instagram post that had received more than 2,000 likes as of Thursday before it was deleted. 鈥淎pparently it 鈥榗ould have 20 times more fatalities than COVID.鈥 Remember鈥 they always tell us what鈥檚 coming.鈥 But Disease X is not an actual illness. The WHO introduced the concept as part of its 2018 that pose the greatest public health risk. The information helps guide global research and development in areas such as vaccines, tests and treatments. Disease X represents a hypothetical pathogen that could one day cause an epidemic or pandemic, according to a 2022 announcement about the WHO鈥檚 intent to update its list. An of the list, which did not include Disease X, was published in 2017 and another update is planned for . Actual diseases on the current list include COVID-19, Zika, Ebola and SARS, among others. 鈥淭argeting priority pathogens and virus families for research and development of countermeasures is essential for a fast and effective epidemic and pandemic response,鈥 Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO鈥檚 Health Emergencies Programme, said in the 2022 press release. Asked for comment on false claims about Disease X, the WHO sent The Associated Press an updated copy of the release, which was nearly identical to the one from 2022. The Davos discussing Disease X on Wednesday featured global healthcare leaders, including WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus; N铆sia Trindade, Brazil鈥檚 minister of health; and Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association.
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CLAIM: A New York City high school was shut down to house migrants who entered the U.S. illegally.
THE FACTS: News that migrants living in a temporary shelter at Floyd Bennett Field, a former airport, at James Madison High School led to false claims on social media that the move would be long term. Nearly 2,000 migrants housed in tents at the Brooklyn shelter to the high school in the borough鈥檚 Midwood neighborhood on the evening of Jan. 9. All of the migrants by early the next morning. Classes were on Jan. 10 and the next day. 鈥(Heart)BREAKING: New York has shut down a highschool so that it can become a shelter for illegal aliens,鈥 reads one post on X, formerly Twitter. But the move , the migrants were at James Madison High School for less than 12 hours. 鈥淭o be clear, this relocation is a proactive measure being taken out of an abundance of caution to ensure the safety and well-being of individuals working and living at the center,鈥 Kayla Mamelak, a spokesperson for New York City Mayor Eric Adams, on Jan. 9, referencing the Floyd Bennett Field shelter. 鈥淭he relocation will continue until any weather conditions that may arise have stabilized and the facility is once again fit for living.鈥 Aries Dela Cruz, a spokesperson for the New York City Office of Emergency Management, told The Associated Press that migrants began loading onto buses at Floyd Bennett Field at about 4:50 p.m. on Jan. 9 and arrived at the school starting about 5:30 p.m. The last buses arrived about 8 p.m. Some families arrived on their own after hearing about the relocation. The agency wrote on X that the migrants to Floyd Bennett Field by 4:27 a.m. on Wednesday, after winds had subsided. Fabien Levy, another Adams spokesperson, Wednesday that 鈥渁s the rain died down early this AM, we were able to move all the migrants out of James Madison High School by 4:15 this morning, and all headed back to Floyd Bennett Field.鈥 James Madison High School wrote in a Facebook post late Tuesday that the next day. Regular in-person instruction resumed the next day. The decision to house migrants at James Madison High School led to widespread anger, including outside the school and a bomb threat directed at the institution. But Adams stressed at a press conference on Jan. 10 that using schools in emergency situations .
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CLAIM: Starbucks has begun selling a watermelon mug to signal its support for Palestinians amid the Israel-Hamas war and appease those boycotting the chain.
THE FACTS: The mug was part of Starbucks鈥 U.K. summer collection, which launched in May 2023, months before the conflict broke out, a company spokesperson told The Associated Press. Starbucks, as well as many customers, featured the mug in around that time. While fighting continues in the third month of the , some on social media are falsely claiming that Starbucks is selling the watermelon mug to mitigate damage caused by of the company over the conflict. Posts spreading online include photos and videos of the mug, which features a watermelon design on each side 鈥 green on the bottom with a white stripe through the middle and red with black seeds near the rim. 鈥渋t鈥檚 giving 鈥榳e鈥檙e so sorry pls come鈥,鈥 reads one post on X, formerly Twitter, that had received approximately 58,000 likes and more than 18,600 shares as of Friday. 鈥測鈥檃ll ain鈥檛 fooling us. we still boycotting.鈥 But the mug has nothing to do with the Israel-Hamas war and was launched months before the fighting began, according to Jaci Anderson, a Starbucks spokesperson. Any stores still selling the product would simply have leftover stock from its May 2023 release, Anderson said. The mug can be seen in social media posts from around the time it became available for purchase. A June 22 post on Starbucks鈥 U.K. Facebook page, for example, shows the mug as part of a . Multiple TikTok users , starting in May, that showed the watermelon mug among the company鈥檚 other summer merchandise. Colors found in a slice of watermelon, the green and white rind, red pulp and black seeds, also appear in the Palestinian flag. For years watermelon has been used as a sign of defiance against Israeli actions. Watermelon imagery has more recently in protests against the Israel-Hamas war, particularly where displaying the flag has been banned. In October, Starbucks 鈥 the union organizing its employees 鈥 over a pro-Palestinian message on social media that used Starbucks鈥 name and a circular green logo resembling that of the coffee chain, saying that customers might be confused about its origin. was refiled in November, adding language about workers鈥 rights to express political views and emphasizing a desire to protect worker safety and Starbucks鈥 reputation. Starbucks has not taken an official stance on the conflict, but those boycotting the chain have said they as a failure to offer more support to the people of Gaza. of its position on the war: 鈥 Starbucks stands for humanity. We condemn violence, the loss of innocent life and weaponized speech. Despite false statements spread through social media, we have no political agenda.鈥
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