post shared on twitter The United Nations (UN) is said to have released a tweet saying that “pedophilia is not a crime”.
— Eugen 🛠 (@panibratchik) June 7, 2023
Verdict: False
The alleged remarks were not posted on the United Nations website or verified social media accounts. A spokeswoman for the intergovernmental organization denied the tweet’s credibility in an email to Check Your Fact.
Fact check:
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the recent dam failure in Ukraine was another “devastating consequence” of Russia’s invasion of the country. Reuters. The intergovernmental organization faced social media backlash after publishing a tweet saying it was celebrating “Russian Language Day” on the same day that Kiev accused Russia of blowing up the dam. Politico report.
“Pedophilia is not a crime!” the Twitter post was viewed 99,000 times. The tweet repeats the statement multiple times and includes an emoji of a child and a pigeon carrying an olive branch.
That claim is false.The alleged remarks did not appear in the UN report. website or its verified socializing media account. Additionally, purported tweets have a round icon and a blue verification checkmark on their display image, while official UN accounts have a square icon and a gray verification checkmark on their display image.
A gray validation check mark indicates that the account represents a government or multilateral organization. Twitter help center.However, a blue check mark indicates that the account is subscribed to Twitter Blue, an $8/month premium subscription service for the social media platform.
In addition, on Twitter, the image of the account representing the brand is displayed with a square icon, The Verge report. (Related: Claims there is an image showing a damaged Russian warship)
UN spokeswoman Florencia Soto Nino Martinez denied the tweet’s credibility in an email to Check Your Fact.
“The image in question is not an actual tweet from an official United Nations account. This statement itself is not endorsed by the organization,” she said.
This is not the first time false claims have circulated online. Check Your Fact previously debunked a social media post in which French President Emmanuel Macron allegedly apologized to French-colonized African nations during his recent speech at the United Nations General Assembly.
