Satire: Chinese Authorities Seize 7,200 Human Penises
The Claim
Chinese authorities seized over 7,000 human penises on a cargo ship emanating from Nigeria.
News posted on
Emerging story
A trending story says that Chinese customs officers recently made the history’s biggest seizure of human organs: a total of 7,221 penises of African origin were found hidden in a refrigerated freight container. The story has been shared on forums and social media here and here, raising many eyebrows.
Misbar’s Analysis
Could this be true? Misbar sought to clarify just how valid this claim is and our investigation turned up a number of red flags revealing that the story is false. First, for a story of such significance, it was surprising that no reputable news platform covered it. A search on google for the story shows that it only appeared on a few unreliable sites.
Secondly, a reverse image search of the featured image which is supposedly that of Chinese authorities making the grim discovery, shows that the picture originates from this March 31st, 2020 article on animal poaching and smuggling.
Thirdly, our investigation shows that the story actually originated from World Daily Report, which is known to be a satirical website. The site's tagline is, “Where Facts Don't Matter,” and contains a disclaimer at the bottom of its homepage which warns readers not to take its stories seriously. “World News Daily Report assumes all responsibility for the satirical nature of its articles and for the fictional nature of their content," it reads. "All characters appearing in the articles in this website – even those based on real people – are entirely fictional and any resemblance between them and any person, living, dead or undead, is purely a miracle.” Unfortunately, many shared the stories without reading through or attaching such caveats.
