Dear Friend,

There’s a risk of unrest this summer, fuelled by anti-immigrant protests, and while false information is playing a part, clearer communication from politicians is urgently needed to help rebuild public trust.

Tackling false information

When bad information spreads online like it did following Southport, the government and internet platforms need to be quick off the mark to prevent it from being shared more widely.

Here are three things those in power can do to prevent more unrest:

Strengthen legislation by fixing the Online Safety Act
Press platforms for reform by improving community notes and moderation
Mandate Ofcom to act decisively by getting platforms, trusted organisations, and public officials in a room during times of crisis.

Find out more

Clearer communication from politicians

Legislation can only take us so far. Over the last few years, we have noticed a significant amount of interest in our fact checks about immigration.

That tells us people want honest, clear information, especially when politicians throw around dodgy statistics and misleading terms.

Words really matter

The word ‘deportation’, for example, has been the subject of two recent fact checks by Full Fact, because politicians have been using the term incorrectly.

It’s a small example of a wider problem that risks undermining public trust on an issue that is setting the political weather.

Monthly donations really help our work. They mean we can continue to push for better regulation, and call out public figures when they get their facts wrong. Please set one up today.

Give £5 per month

Best wishes,

Craig

P.S. - This week we're also covering:

Keir Starmer didn’t ‘lay the ground’ for illegal migrants to get benefits
Don’t worry, you can still go abroad four times a year without alerting the tax man
Vaccines have not caused a rise in autism in Vietnam

FACT CHECKS

Keir Starmer didn’t ‘lay the ground’ for illegal migrants to get benefits

Facebook posts are circulating online, saying Keir Starmer “laid the ground” for “illegal migrants” to receive benefits and be housed in hotels.

It is true that in 2003 Starmer represented a group of asylum seekers who didn’t claim asylum as soon as they entered the UK. Most asylum seekers could already receive support before this case.

HMRC have confirmed enhanced customers monitoring doesn't exist

If you’re lucky enough to go abroad more than three times a year, you might have been alarmed to see Facebook posts saying the tax man would put you under ‘enhanced customs monitoring’ as a result.

This, however, is false. We’ve spoken to HMRC and they told us this isn’t the case. In fact, the system to do that doesn’t even exist.

So go on, take that extra holiday, you’ve earned it.

There’s a claim going around that autism didn’t exist in Vietnam before 2001 and that cases have shot up 300% since Bill Gates introduced his vaccine schedule.

But there’s no evidence for this. Vietnam only started officially recognising autism in the late 1990s, which is when reported cases began to rise. And according to doctors in Vietnam who spoke to fellow fact checkers AFP, they’ve worked with autistic people believed to have developed the condition well before then.