MTN Uganda is giving out 122GB of data to customers for free in response to COVID-19.
The post is captioned “MTN free data”, and has a link to a website claiming that the company has received requests from customers for free data, and has responded with an offer for 122GB data for free., The website asks users to click on yet another link to claim the data, redirecting to yet another page requesting them to download Searchsio, a browser hijacker that is promoted as a search tool but instead modifies browsers to promote a fake search engine., The initial website and subsequent redirects are not associated with MTN Uganda., There have been other claims on Facebook that MTN is giving free 122GB data to its customers., On April 27, MTN Uganda put out a statement warning subscribers that the “MTN 122GB Data Grant for COVID-19” promotion is fake. They added that official promotions are published only on their official social media pages and website., PesaCheck has looked into a Facebook post claiming that MTN Uganda is giving out a 122GB data grant to customers for free and finds it to be a HOAX., This post is part of an ongoing series of PesaCheck fact-checks examining content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms., By partnering with Facebook and similar social media platforms, third-party fact-checking organisations like PesaCheck are helping to sort fact from fiction. We do this by giving the public deeper insight and context to posts they see in their social media feeds., Have you spotted what you think is fake news or false information on Facebook? Here’s how you can report. And, here’s more information on PesaCheck’s methodology for fact-checking questionable content., This fact-check was written by PesaCheck Fact-Checker Pius Enywaru and edited by PesaCheck Deputy Editor Enock Nyariki., The article was approved for publication by PesaCheck Managing Editor Eric Mugendi., PesaCheck is East Africa’s first public finance fact-checking initiative. It was co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arenstein, and is being incubated by the continent’s largest civic technology and data journalism accelerator: Code for Africa. It seeks to help the public separate fact from fiction in public pronouncements about the numbers that shape our world, with a special emphasis on pronouncements about public finances that shape government’s delivery of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) public services, such as healthcare, rural development and access to water/sanitation. PesaCheck also tests the accuracy of media reportage. To find out more about the project, visit pesacheck.org., PesaCheck is an initiative of Code for Africa, through its innovateAFRICA fund, with support from Deutsche Welle Akademie, in partnership with a coalition of local African media and other civic watchdog organisations., Written by, Written by
HOAX: MTN Uganda is not giving out free data in response to COVID-19