On March 3-4, Georgian– and Russian-language Facebook accounts (1;2;3) circulated information claiming that Donald Trump would announce a military draft for all individuals who have a Ukrainian flag on their Facebook profile. The posts were accompanied by a screenshot of a post from The Babylon Bee.
On March 5, the same information, citing The Babylon Bee, was shared by POST News, a page of the pro-government media outlet POSTV.
The claim that Trump would draft individuals with a Ukrainian flag on their Facebook profile is based on a satirical article and is not Thetrue.
Although the information is being spread with reference to The Babylon Bee, neither the Facebook accounts nor POSTV clarify what kind of publication it is. Comments on the posts indicate that users perceive the information as real.
The Babylon Bee is an American satirical publication. Its mission statement explicitly states this. As a result, the articles it publishes are fictional, humorous, and do not reflect reality. The article claiming that Trump would draft those with a Ukrainian flag on their profile was published on March 3.
It is also noteworthy that no open sources contain information about any such initiative by Trump. The U.S. president has not posted about this on his Truth Social account.
Myth Detector has previously fact-checked multiple satirical articles from The Babylon Bee that were being shared as real news:
- Did Joe Biden Unfollow Putin on Twitter?
- Does the Pope require vaccination to enter heaven?
- Disinformation about the transfer of unvaccinated people to concentration camps in Germany is spreading based on a satirical website
- Is vaccination required to unlock the screen of the new iPhone 13?
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