The claim

Numerous TikTok videos claim that Ukrainian refugees receive 500 euros in welcome money from Caritas

Our conclusion

The claim is fictitious. It originally comes from a TikTok account from which false reports are regularly posted in order to spread as much outrage as possible. Caritas and the federal government also deny the claim, and nothing of the kind can be found on their websites or in other media.

A message that may not have reached everyone yet: TikTok is not a news platform. Even YouTube is more reputable in comparison, as fake news is always deleted there, while fakes can spread quite unhindered on the video app from China - such as the claim that Ukrainian refugees would receive 500 euros in welcome money from Caritas.

The claim

“If a lot of sites are reporting on something, then it’s probably true” – a rule of thumb that’s mostly true for online news sites. Things are different on TikTok, as many videos about the same topic do not mean that something is true. This is due to a specific feature that we'll get to in a moment.

Many videos claim that Ukrainians in Germany would receive 500 euros in welcome money at every Caritas office in Germany .

Screenshots of various TikTok videos with the claim
Screenshots of various TikTok videos with the claim

What is particularly striking is that the same female voice can always be heard in the videos saying the following:

“From now on, our refugee friends from Ukraine will receive 500 euros in welcome money at every Caritas office in Germany. The Bundestag approved the application in an expedited procedure. This is financed from German tax money. Your green federal government.”

But apart from the always same voice, there is an additional clue among the videos, namely the origin of the soundtrack - and it does not come from a reputable source!

___STEADY_PAYWALL___

The original video

The big problem with TikTok is that many videos are essentially fast food: they are consumed without paying attention to the ingredients. However, you should not only do this when eating, but also on the Internet, because this “ingredient” is not without:

The reference to the original source
The reference to the original source

Among all the videos with the same female voice, the often very numerous hashtags include the note “Original Sound – Fat Bear”. the original video can be found under the account of this name .

Screenshot from the original video
Screenshot from the original video

In the video you can see a man standing in front of a branch of “Càritas” (not Caritas) shaking his head. a lot of “outrage videos” from there, which can be found on his TikTok account and spreading false reports.

But the account owner uses a really great “trick” that hasn’t helped other spreaders of false claims when they have been prosecuted by people or organizations: He simply writes that what he is doing is just “satire”.

The creator describes himself as a satirist
The creator describes himself as a satirist

He also wrote the word “satire” as the seventeenth (!) hashtag under the original video about the alleged welcome money:

Very clear labeling. Not.
Very clear labeling. Not.

It is very obvious from this and other videos by the creator that he is not at all interested in satire, but rather pure hate speech in the form of false claims.

Caritas and the Bundestag know nothing about a welcome bonus

Neither on the website of the German Caritas nor on the website of the German Bundestag , which supposedly decided on the welcome allowance for Ukrainian refugees by urgent application, can you find anything about it: no announcement, no information, nothing. There is not a single press release or article in reputable media about it.

The colleagues from Correctiv wanted to know more and asked Caritas and the federal government. According to Caritas spokeswoman Anja Stoiser, the association does not offer any welcome money and there have been no requests from Ukrainian refugees. The speaker of the Bundestag, Sven Göran Mey, also denies it: There is neither “ anything like that in the parliamentary procedure of the Bundestag ” nor is there a “ draft that goes to the committees ”.

Conclusion

The claim is fictitious. It originally comes from a TikTok account from which false reports are regularly posted in order to spread as much outrage as possible. Caritas and the federal government also deny the claim, and nothing of the kind can be found on their websites or in other media.

Additional source:

Corrective
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