A disputable website, ab-tc.com also known as City News, on Wednesday, February 5 published an article claiming China sought a court’s approval to kill more than 20,000 coronavirus patients.
It said this was to avoid a further spread of the deadly virus.
The article added that China’s Supreme People’s Court was expected to give approval today.
Thousands, including hundreds of Kenyans, have shared the claim on social media while castigating President Xi Jinping’s government for considering such an ill-advised move.
The Standard Digital Fact Check desk has established that the claim is FALSE.
Verifying the claim
The first red flag on the report is in its first sentence that misspells China as Chhina (sic). Often, spelling mistakes and an over-use of capital letters point to low-quality content that is unlike real news sources who edit for accuracy.
We checked if the website had a disclaimer labeling the content as fiction/satire and did not find one. This means it was passing off the report as true.
In any case, the website has been flagged numerous times for fake news, including most recently for spreading misinformation on the coronavirus.
