Question

There have been no live births in Italy during the last three months.

Comments

While I think TikTok can be a good source for quick information, not all of the content is true. In order to fact-check this, I would seek out statistics from an official website.

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I believe that TikTok can be a very misleading source as can most social media. While positive and true information can be spread relatively quickly. TikTok especially can spread mis and disinformation relatively easily.

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The original source is TikTok, which is notorious for being filled with misinformation due to it's accessibility. While the original claim may have been based off a headline about Italy hitting a record low for births, it does not mean Italy has seen no new births in the last three months. According to both Rueters.com and the an international Census Bureau this claim is false.

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After doing some research using the Italys National Statistics website ISTAT and the census government website. I was able to track the increases in population during 2023 in births. While Italy did face a large decrease in births it did not face a complete halt.  USA Today also reported on this calling the claims in this video specifically false by reposting the video with the title " No, Italy did not go three months without a single birth."
The claims this TikTok seems to make are false, laughable, and misleading.

Sources: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2023/11/28/no-italy-did-not-go-three-months-without-a-single-birth-fact-check/71730297007/
https://www.census.gov/popclock/world/it
https://www.istat.it/en/

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TikTok is a widely used social media platform that can be known to spread false information. While doing some research they had mentioned similar posts had been circulating Facebook as well. I found an article that stated this is not true. The Italian National Statistics website ISTAT has mentioned to Reuters there have been 30,000 births per month within the past three months.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/claim-that-italy-had-no-new-births-three-months-2023-is-false-2023-11-24/

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This claim made and supported by the creator of this Tiktok video is incorrect; Firstly, the narrator used an article from an unreliable author by an allusive username that doesn't have an accounting for in the journalistic/reporting world. Furthermore, the person producing this Tiktok mainly centers her knowledge and content on U.S. news and would not have that much knowledge about the EU news or health concerns based on where she is getting her information. After doing some investigation of the claim, USA Today cleared the rumors and supported their denial of this thinking with statistics of the birth rates declining but not evading and sourcing the Prime Minister's claims of successful birthrates.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2023/11/28/no-italy-did-not-go-three-months-without-a-single-birth-fact-check/71730297007/

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Using a TikTok video as evidence to prove the statement "There have been no live births in Italy during the last three months" is not ideal for several reasons. TikTok is a platform primarily known for short-form, entertaining content rather than factual and comprehensive information. The nature of TikTok videos may lack the depth and context required to support such a claim. Additionally, the authenticity and accuracy of information presented on TikTok can vary widely, since anyone can post anything. It is better to rely on more credible and authoritative sources, such as official government records or reputable news outlets, when making or substantiating claims related to important and sensitive topics like birth rates in a country.

Sources:
https://www.istat.it/en/population-and-households

https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/claim-that-italy-had-no-new-births-three-months-2023-is-false-2023-11-24/

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Italy has a sizable population, and the absence of live births would be an extraordinary and unprecedented situation. It's important to verify information with official sources or reliable news outlets, and TikTok is not a reliable source. After research, Italy has recorded a decrease in births, but not a complete stop.

Answer 1

This is false. From Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/births-italy-heading-new-record-low-2023-stats-office-2023-10-26/ 

"Between January and June there were 3,500 fewer births than in the same period of 2022, the data from national statistics bureau ISTAT showed."

"In 2022 as a whole, births fell 1.7% to 393,000, a 14th consecutive drop and the lowest number since the country's unification in 1861."

There are still births in Italy, but they are decreasing. This claim is false and exaggerated.

Comments

Good work finding a good source and getting straight to the point in your answer. Also, good job on noting the additional detail that birth rates are decreasing.

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This is a succinct and straight forward fact-check. Nice work!

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This is a great fact-check because it's straight to the point and provides reputable evidence. Good job!

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This was a great fact-check! Your fact check contains clear information pertaining to the original claim and gives a good understanding of what the correct information is.

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This was a very helpful fact check. You linked a credible article and pulled out facts from within the article that porved the other article was false. Within 15 seconds I was able to see that they did indeed make a false claim.

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I found your comment to be very helpful. I like how you used a source that is known to being trustworthy and backed it up with numerical evidence to help show that this claim is exaggerated. In May, CNN also covered this same topic saying that in Italy,  "the number of births in a year fell below 400,000 – representing an average of 1.25 babies per woman". In this quote we can see how other sources are talking about this topic, however, they are not saying that there have been "no live births in Italy during the last three months".  Using numerical sources to help back up your claim is very helpful and it helps prove that this claim is a form of false context.

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This fact check is straight to the point and well done. Although you only have one source fact-checking the statement, it is a reliable and good enough source to deny the claim. I also really like how at the end of the fact check you added this comment is not true, however, the birthing rate is declining. To me, this comment gave some context on where this fabrication/ assumption came from.

Answer 2

There have been children born in Italy in the last three months, however, the birth rate in Italy is dropping. According to ansa.it, there were just under 400,000 babies born in Italy in 2022. In 2023, they state that the first half of the year the birthrate has fallen 1.9 percent, meaning that there have been plenty of babies born in the last three months. Additionally, the article that is used in the TikTok video has no sources and an anonymous author which gives it almost no credibility.

https://www.ansa.it/english/news/2023/10/26/birth-rate-in-italy-reaches-new-record-low_cc7d0ebf-c627-40c2-b144-ce04a9e82ea2.html

https://medium.com/@omnigod066/italy-achieves-unthinkable-world-record-no-child-births-in-3-months-9b41149be4eb

Comments

You did a great job summarizing what you have read in this article and stating the sources you found it from!

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I like how you pointed out the lack of credibility in this source, that drives home the point of how ridiculous this claim is.

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Nice and short answer on how to prove this claim as false and good use of evidence overall.

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Good job summarizing how while the information in the post was false, birth rates in Italy are dropping. Tiktok is not a reliable source. The creator of this source gets her views by spreading concerning misinformation.

Answer 3

Statistically and logically, that just doesn't make sense. I found a Medium article with the title "Italy Achieves Unthinkable World Record. No Child Births in Three Months." (https://medium.com/@omnigod066/italy-achieves-unthinkable-world-record-no-child-births-in-3-months-9b41149be4eb)

This article was written by someone with the online alias OMNIGod Author (https://medium.com/@omnigod066). They're not a journalist, just a random Internet person who feels like writing articles with ridiculous claims. I'm not sure if it's just clickbait or if the full article attempts to back up the claim, since I'm not about to make an account to read that. This claim appears to have spread to a couple highly unreliable "news" sites. 

Here's what actually happened: "For the first time, the number of births in a year fell below 400,000 – representing an average of 1.25 babies per woman, according to official figures for 2022. This means that the replacement rate is now negative, since the number of deaths currently exceeds the number of births – 12 deaths for every seven births." (https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/17/europe/italy-record-low-birth-rate-intl-cmd/index.html)

Babies were born in Italy, there's just more people dying than being born. This claim is thus completely false.

Comments

This is a very good fact-check! You looked into the TikTok account, which is helpful when fact-checking and finding more details. You also summarized what you read and provided your sources. Overall, this is a great example of a fact-check.

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great fact-checking. I admire how you went as far as to do a background check on the person who wrote the story, calling our the ridiculous claims that they were making. It points out/makes it aware that not everyone who writes an artlce piece is a journalist or credible to give the statistical facts.

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Great use of sources and great explanation and analysis of the source and making the answer credible.

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I like how you started off by saying "Statistically and logically, that just doesn't make sense." While yes it is a fact check and it is important to stay formal and partial every once and a while some of these claims are so ridiculous it can be satisfying to see someone say what everyone else is thinking.

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Like how resources this is and the fact that the evidence shows how this claim is false. Good choice of how to put this claim together as truthful.

Answer 4

This is false, and for several reasons. First of all, Italy has a population of almost 60 million people, and assuming that no babies were being born for the past three months would most certainly raise many concerns due to population collapse. Also the chances statistically of this happening are almost zero compared to the roughly 30 million women living in Italy. Assuming half of that number is of age to have children means that out of 15 million women, not a single one has had a child in the last three months. The odds are practically zero. While the news platform "the Medium" did go on record saying Italy has had no births for the past three months this title is misleading and seeks to draw interest from readers. Although Italy has not had a complete dry spell of child births they are seeing a vast decline of overall child births in the past few years.

Comments

I think you did a good job on being precise, but you try to use probability than actual facts  which may make your claim seem unreliable.  Maybe using different accredited sources that helps boost your claim to make it more credible.  Also, for the last sentence, you can perhaps add a statistic of the decline of child births in Italy.  Otherwise, I agree that the title is misleading just to simply draw attention.

Answer 5

This claim is false and misleading. The birth rates in Italy have indeed seen a drop of around 1.7% according to Reuters. It also makes no sense for a country to have no live births for three months, though there is a decrease. With a population of over 59 million citizens living there, there is no possibility of no live births in 3 months. However, within these 3 months, the birth rates have dropped significantly with the first few months having a 1.9% drop.

https://www.ansa.it/english/news/2023/10/26/birth-rate-in-italy-reaches-new-record-low_cc7d0ebf-c627-40c2-b144-ce04a9e82ea2.html

Comments

How would you rate this claim? misleading, false, or opinionated, etc.? I appreciate your succinct response but think a quote might help get your fact check to sound more solid. For example, why is there "no possibility of no live births in 3 months"? A source that explains this impossibility would be a plus.

Answer 6

There is a misunderstanding in this statement, there isn't a source that says "There are NO live births in Italy" although there has been reports saying that Italy has been experiencing an all time low in births. So this claim is partially true in the fact that there is definitely a problem in Italy when it comes to the lack of births this year, but i wouldn't go along and claiming that there hasn't been any live briths.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/17/europe/italy-record-low-birth-rate-intl-cmd/index.html

https://pwonlyias.com/editorial-analysis/birth-rate-in-italy/

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/births-italy-heading-new-record-low-2023-stats-office-2023-10-26/

Comments

How would you rate the claim? Exaggerated/misleading? Or false? Don't forget to choose a rating for each fact-check.

Answer 7

Tiktok, while useful to obtain some information, is also a tool that makes the spread of false information much easier. Standing in front of a green screen of a vaguely referenced obscure news article while speaking only about exaggerated or outright false facts is not a reliable source of information its closer to fear mongering.

That being said, the claim is false. Not only have there been nearly 300,000 births per month in Italy, there are many factors that can contribute to an individual's sperm count. There have been studies that have show some evidence of decreasing sperm counts, researchers say that the findings are not concrete.

https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/claim-that-italy-had-no-new-births-three-months-2023-is-false-2023-11-24/

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-sperm-counts-really-declining/

Answer 8

This claim is false. An article from usnews.com claims that, "between January and June there were 3,500 fewer births than in the same period of 2022, the data from national statistics bureau ISTAT showed." The claim that Italy had not had a live birth in three months is exaggerated and false. In reality they are facing a decrease in birth rates not a complete halt in births. It also claims, "In 2022 as a whole, births fell 1.7% to 393,000, a 14th consecutive drop and the lowest number since the country's unification in 1861." 

Another article from reuters.com states the same statistics while also claiming that the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni Is setting aside just over a billion euros (1.05 billion) aimed at the birth crisis. The crisis is attributed in part to Italian women's struggles to combine motherhood and work. The crisis is considered to be a national emergency to the euro zone's third largest economy

TikTok is not a source that I can entirely trust especially with how easily dis and misinformation can be spread by anyone with an account. 

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/births-italy-heading-new-record-low-2023-stats-office-2023-10-26/#:~:text=In%202022%20as%20a%20whole,the%20country%27s%20unification%20in%201861.

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2023-10-26/births-in-italy-heading-for-new-record-low-in-2023-stats-office