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Ciara O'Rourke
By Ciara O'Rourke October 5, 2023

Fake news about a DNA test-related beheading recirculates on social media

If Your Time is short

  • This isn’t an authentic news story.

A recent Facebook post warns about false positives in DNA testing but uses a fake headline to prove its point. 

"Man cuts off wife’s head after DNA test proved none of 6 kids are his own," the headline says below a man’s photo and a woman’s photo. 

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

A reverse-image search led to real 2013 news headlines about a man who stabbed his wife in London because he suspected she was having an affair with the neighbor.

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The articles showed photos that appear to be the same man and woman from the Facebook post, but they don’t mention DNA or paternity. 

Other inauthentic news stories that use their pictures give the victim a different name and dateline. Supposedly, the alleged beheading happened in "Mountain View."

We rate claims that a man beheaded his wife following a DNA test False.

 

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Fake news about a DNA test-related beheading recirculates on social media

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