On April 24, 2023, a Kenyan Twitter account posted an image of charred bodies, alleging that it showed members of a Ugandan church who died by immolation.
“17 March 2000, Kanungu Uganda. 778 members of the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God died in Uganda after burning themselves in a Church (sic),” reads the tweet, which was shared more than 600 times.
The same claim was repeated in Facebook posts here, here and here.
The image surfaced as mass graves linked to a starvation cult were discovered in Kenya (news story archived here). Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Mackenzie Nthenge had urged his followers to starve to death. After a tip-off, Kenyan police raided Shakahola forest near the coastal town of Malindi where they unearthed dozens of bodies including children in shallow mass graves.
More than two decades before the macabre discovery in Kenya, a cultic massacre was reported (archived here) in neighbouring Uganda where some 700 members of the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God were burned to death.
Members...
In certain instances, it is evident that misinformation is created and disseminated on social media by exploiting sensitive issues and presenting unverified claims as factual events. Presented bel...