A Facebook post by a “Serena Williams” has been interpreted by some as being from the tennis champ.
Discover Australian Associated Press: its products and services, Australia’s national news agency, delivering a continuous stream of breaking news, information and images direct to clients. Ready-to-use on all platforms and channels, our news service sets the standard for accuracy, reliability and impartiality., Pagemasters is a global provider of sub-editing, listings and imaging services. Our highly-skilled editors provide complete media production services to metropolitan and regional newspapers, websites, magazines, sporting bodies and education sectors., "The leading provider of media intelligence and communication solutions, AAP Medianets Distribution and Database services connect organisations with Australian media professionals to achieve their PR and communication goals.", Megaform supplies racing data and content for gallops, greyhounds and harness to hundreds of form guides and websites around Australia. Fields, form, comment, results and much more. Our racing data is trusted, accurate and reliable., Breaking news, feature and stock photography, delivered at speed and on-demand. Quality-controlled and curated by our network of professional photographers and editors, coverage focuses on national and world events, sport, entertainment and lifestyle., Australia’s leading media analysis agency providing bespoke media intelligence and reputation tracking for Australia’s largest organisations. Our team of media experts deliver data-driven insights to help clients make strategic decisions, manage reputation and leverage trends., "Australias leading publisher of biographical data, records and media guides. Research, target and connect with key Australian contacts and companies in media, government institutions, organisations and associations.", "AAP Studio is a team of big thinkers, strategists, designers and problem solvers. Drawing on AAPs broad range of editorial and creative resources, Studio delivers engaging content and thoughtful design solutions for brands and publishers.", FactCheck Social Media, By AAP FactCheck, June 30, 2020, There’s a famous tennis player in the United States called Serena Williams. There’s also a social media post by someone called Serena Williams getting a lot of attention at the moment in the US and elsewhere in the world., The post shows a screenshot of a Facebook post. The screenshot has been shared on Instagram with a banner that tags the @serenawilliams Instagram page of the sports star., The Facebook post itself, from someone called Serena Williams, starts with “I’m sick of covid-19, I’m sick of black vs. white, I’m sick of Democrats vs. Republican, I’m sick of gay vs. straight. I’m sick of Christian vs atheist. I’m really sick of the media.”, It continues with statements that people should support whoever they wish in the upcoming US election and believe in God if they wish, before ending with: “If you can’t handle the fact that you may have a friend that has opposing views as you, then you are not any better than the bigots and the racists. I don’t have to agree with everything you believe to be a decent human being & your friend”., The posts have been viewed more than 450,000 times and have been shared by multiple accounts including here and here., As issues including COVID-19 lockdowns, the Black Lives Matter protests and the November US Presidential election continue to divide opinions all over the world, Facebook users have been sharing a post that seems to be from champion tennis player Serena Williams imploring people to be respectful of others’ beliefs., The 23-time women’s Grand Slam champion has actually been an outspoken figure on issues to do with race and inequality, tweeting a Nike message in May with the line “Don’t pretend there’s not a problem in America” and posting a lengthy discussion about inequality in the United States in June., However the Serena Williams on the account that posted the text is not the tennis champion, as clearly evident from the bio of the original poster’s Facebook page, which states: “Nope, not THAT Serena Williams”., The post has been edited twice since appearing on June 15. First to add the hashtag “#repost” to the text and later to add an attribution to another Facebook user who appears to have first posted the text on June 3, 2020., There is no suggestion that the original post was presented as being from the high-profile tennis player however reposts have tagged her Instagram and Twitter accounts, indicating people believe the post to have come from her., The post does not appear on the official Serena Williams Facebook page., Based on the evidence, AAP FactCheck finds some reshares and versions of the post to be misleading. The Facebook post is indeed by a person named Serena Williams but not the famous tennis player. There is no suggestion that the original post was presented as being from tennis champ Williams, however \xa0some reshares have tagged the sports champion’s accounts., Partly False – The claim of the content is a mixture of accurate and inaccurate, or the primary claim is misleading or incomplete., * AAP FactCheck is accredited by the Poynter Institute’s International Fact-Checking Network, which promotes best practice through a stringent and transparent Code of Principles. https://aap.com.au/, AAP is accredited by the Poynter Institute’s International Fact Checking Network and adheres to its rigorous protocols., FactCheck Social Media, A Facebook post claims that a grocery store worker who wore a mask for hours at a time got a lung infection from "breathing in her own bacteria"., FactCheck Social Media, "Theres a famous US tennis player called Serena Williams. Theres also a social media post by someone called Serena Williams getting a lot of attention in the US and elsewhere in the world.", FactCheck Social Media, A widely circulated Facebook post claims that there is no COVID-19 pandemic., FactCheck Social Media, As researchers worldwide work to develop a vaccine for COVID-19, a social media post is claiming a vaccine has already been developed and will cause widespread infertility., FactCheck Social Media, A social media post claims Bill Gates, the US billionaire who is supporting research into a COVID-19 vaccine, was in New Zealand at the end of May., FactCheck News Media, Did deputy Nationals leader Bridget McKenzie fund programs that were recommended for funding?, FactCheck News Media, "The 2019/20 budget cut of $12.9 million to recurrent expenditure on top of $21 million of savings to be found for the government\s Labour Expense Cap is crippling FRNSW.", FactCheck News Media, “The claim that the workforce is now excessively casualised is simply not true. The level of casualisation hasn’t changed for about 20 years.”, FactCheck News Media, “Coles and Woolies, they said look we’ll put 10 cents a litre on for the milk and we’ll give it to the dairy farmers. Well I’ve just found out that the dairy farmers get 1.4 cents of that." One Nation leader Pauline Hanson. October 10, 2019., FactCheck News Media, “Australians spend twice as much on superannuation fees as we do on electricity - some $30 billion a year.” Labor Assistant Minister for Treasury spokesman Andrew Leigh. September 30, 2019., politics, Senior Morrison government minister Matthias Cormann will retire from politics at the end of the year, but will remain as finance minister until then., Australian rules football, Richmond have returned to the AFL winners list for the first time since March, but their 27-point victory over Melbourne has been soured by four new injuries., politics, "Kanye West has tweeted that he is running for US president in four months with some responding to the rappers announcement with scepticism", Forgotten your login details? Call + 61 2 9322 8727., © Australian Associated Press 2020
A viral post from someone called Serena Williams was not from the tennis champion – Australian Associated Press