FACT CHECK: Did The UK Newspaper The Times Publish This Front Page Story About Doctors Advising ‘Against Taking The Experimental Jab’?
An image shared on Facebook purportedly shows a front page of The Times, a U.K.-based newspaper, that features the headline: “Doctors and experts advise against taking experimental jab.”
Facebook/Screenshot
Verdict: False
The image is fabricated. No such story ran on the Feb. 16 front page of The Times.
Fact Check:
Featured in the Facebook post is what appears to be the front page of the Feb. 16 print edition of The Times, which describes itself as “Britain’s oldest national daily newspaper” on its website. The headline on the alleged front page reads, “Doctors and experts advise against taking experimental jab.” (RELATED: Image Claims To Show USA Today Newspaper About Anthony Fauci Being Arrested For ‘Seditious Conspiracy’)
The supposed article attempts to push back on the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines, despite the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Health Service and other national regulatory agencies saying COVID-19 vaccines are safe. The purported article also mentions BBC One’s Panorama documentary episode “Vaccines: The Disinformation War,” which investigated the “scare tactics of anti-vaxxers,” according to BBC’s description.
The image has been fabricated. The real Feb. 16 front page of The Times can be found on the newspaper’s website. On the genuine front page, the featured article is titled “Vaccination is reducing admissions and deaths.” Other headlines on the Feb. 16 front page include “Harry and Meghan to tell Oprah why they quit royal life” and “Chitchat 101: law school offers lessons in small talk.”
The Times addressed the fake front page in a Feb. 27 article that put up the headline “Fake antivax Times front page posted on Twitter.” The fabricated image originated in a tweet sent by the Twitter account @Piers_Corbyn, The Times reported. The account has since been suspended for violating the platform’s rules.
Other fake Feb. 16 front pages from the Express, Metro and Mirror previously circulated online and were debunked by Reuters.
