(Note: We are updating this article to say it is a SATIRE instead of FALSE, as earlier posted in the article “FACT CHECK: The Little Mermaid star Halle Bailey did not visit Lanao del Sur.”)
A post on Facebook group Main Pop Girls Stanposting went viral for claiming that The Little Mermaid star Halle Bailey stayed for a vacation in Lanao del Sur province. It was not true, however.
Facebook user Jose Angelo Uchi Esquera reposted the false information on November 4, which showed a photo of the actress in Lanao del Sur. The user first shared it on September 20 in the same Facebook page.
Lanao del Sur is part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
The false Facebook claim generated 29,000 Likes, 22,083 Shares and 790 comments as of Wednesday, November 8.
The photo showing Bailey in a beachwear and sitting on the trunk of a coconut tree was originally posted by the actress on her Instagram page. She was having a vacation in the Caribbean country of Saint Lucia.
According to a story published on www.loopnews.com, Bailey visited Saint Lucia with her sister Chloe last July.
The photo was uploaded by the actress on her Instagram account, @hallebailey, on July 23, along with a series of photos of her and some landscape shots in the island.
Several other international media outlets, including Daily Mail and The News International, also published articles about Bailey’s vacation in Saint Lucia.
On 26 March 2024, Esquera stressed he did not intend to spread false information in posting the claim.
In an email, he clarified that it was a “meme that was widely understood” in the community “Main Pop Girls Stanposting.”
The MindaNews fact-checking team deemed it necessary to check the accuracy of the claim as some users believed that it actually happened, when it is not.
Providing some context, Esquera said that Main Pop Girls Stanposting is a public Facebook group with a large membership base, known for sharing humorous memes and posts related to pop culture.
“The content shared on this page often involves slight modifications or edits intended for entertainment purposes. While the posts may not always reflect factual information, they are typically understood within the context of the group’s culture and humor,” Esquera said.
“In the case of the photo mentioned in your article, it was shared on the Facebook group as part of the lighthearted content that is common within the community. The intention behind sharing such posts is to elicit amusement and foster a sense of camaraderie among members, rather than to spread misinformation deliberately,” he added.
The Facebook page Main Pop Girls Stanposting is popular for sharing memes or posts that have slight modifications intended to spread humor to Internet users. The public group counts at least 869,700 members.
Some users asked for context or questioned the reliability of the false post of The Little Mermaid star in Lanao del Sur.
Facebook user Erto Dump wrote, “Legit? Sya yan nasa pinas?” (Is that legitimate? Was it really her in the Philippines?).
As with all our other reports, MindaNews welcomes leads or suggestions from the public to potential fact-check stories. MindaNews is a verified signatory to the Code of Principles of the International Fact-Checking Network. (Yas D. Ocampo and Miah Christine Bontilao / MindaNews)
