Update: Yes, of course this was an April Fools joke :-) For years we here at Lead Stories have put the term "F*ke N*ws" in every headline but it is time to put a stop to the practice. For a long time academic experts like Claire Wardle have ar
Publication: analysis
Lead Stories→ Press Release: The International Fact-Checking Network launches FactCheckEU, its European fact-checking project
Hoaxes know no borders, especially in Europe. That's why the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) is proud to announce the launch of FactCheckEU, a collaborative effort from 19 European fact-checking outlets to tackle disinformation and
Lead Stories→ On The Difference Between Fake News and Satire — Why Lead Stories Needed A Satire Policy
Things used to be very simple and clear-cut here at Lead Stories. We used our Trendolizer engine to look for things that were trending online that were not true (but which seemed to be believed by many people anyway). Then we would write an ar
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Real Momo Videos,’ Viral Hoaxes, and Ostension
In the aftermath of the March 2019 U.S. media frenzy surrounding the Momo challenge, a number of “real Momo videos” have opportunistically surfaced and quickly racked up large share counts. We came across several of the likely many survivi
Lead Stories→ Christopher Blair Launches New Snopes & DeadState Parody Sites
It appears the feud between Snopes and self-described internet troll Christopher Blair keeps on going: earlier this week he took to Facebook to announce a new parody website that explicitly takes aim at fact checking website Snopes by using a
Lead Stories→ Lead Stories Joins Facebook’s Third Party Fact Checking Partnership
COLORADO SPRINGS - Lead Stories is happy to announce we are now part of Facebook's partnership with various fact checking organisations around the world which aims to fight misinformation on the platform. Lead Stories will continue using its
Lead Stories→ Kumanovo-connection Update: Macedonian Fake News Purveyor Revealed To Be Military Intelligence Major
One of the Macedonians identified by Nieuwscheckers and Lead Stories to be behind a network of sites publishing hate-mongering fake news turns out to be a major in the military intelligence service of Macedonia. Another one is an active-duty s
Lead Stories→ Macedonian Fake News Network Shuts Down Dozens Of Websites After Joint Investigation By Lead Stories & Nieuwscheckers
Back in November of 2018 fact checking sites Lead Stories and Nieuwscheckers collaborated to map a network of Macedonian fake news websites that had published thousands and thousands of articles since 2016, mostly stolen from other places, man
Lead Stories→ How A Tattoo Led Us To The Macedonian Trucker Delivering Loads of Fake News To The Internet
The joint investigation by Lead Stories and Nieuwscheckers into a network of Macedonian fake news sites reached a dead end last month: we knew most of the sites involved and had a pretty good idea how their posts were being spread via fake Twi
Lead Stories→ The Kumanovo-connection: Macedonian Spam Clans Still Make Money With Fake News About Muslims and Migrants
A Macedonian military man appears to be one of the driving forces behind a network of fake news websites that reached millions of people with articles often inciting hatred against muslims and migrants. Together with friends and family he has
Lead Stories→ Here Are The Tools And Methods We Used To Map A Macedonian Fake News Network And The People Behind It
Sherlock Holmes had his magnifying glass. Hercule Poirot relied on his "little grey cells". But the 21st century internet detective needs more than that to catch the bad guys. In this article we present some of the tools and tricks we used to
Lead Stories→ Decline and Fall Of A Macedonian Fake News Network: Numbers Indicate Facebook’s Measures Forced Desperate Move To Twitter
Although Macedonian fake news merchants still generate thousands of Facebook likes and shares, the platform's recent measures against bad actors have drastically reduced their reach. The next step in the arms race takes the battle to Twitter.
Truth or Fiction?→ Do You Have the Right as a Juror to Refuse to Enforce ‘Bad Law’?
On January 5, 2018, the Facebook page “Think Liberty” posted this photograph of a woman holding a sign: The sign and caption said: As a juror, you have the right to refuse to enforce any bad law in the case brought before you. #TheMoreYouK
Truth or Fiction?→ United States President Donald Trump’s Immigration Speech
On the evening of January 8, 2019, United States President Donald Trump addressed the nation from the Oval Office on the topic of immigration and what he calls a humanitarian and national security crisis on the country’s southern border as a shut
Lead Stories→ Lead Stories Fastest At Debunking 2018 Top Hoaxes Identified By BuzzFeed News
A few days ago BuzzFeed's Craig Silverman published his annual overview of the top 50 biggest on-line hoaxes of the previous year. Just like last year we used this list as a basis to do some analysis to see how Lead Stories did compared to oth
Truth or Fiction?→ How to Slow the Spread of Disinformation: A Guide for Newsrooms
Every day, a new fake story emerges with the power to affect policy or further corrode relationships, from interpersonal to international. This is corrosive disinformation, as different from garden-variety scams and hoaxes as a molehill is from a mount
Lead Stories→ Fake News: James Woods Hit By Death Hoax, First Victim of New Christopher Blair Site
Did actor and conservative commentator James Woods pass away? No, that's not true: his obituary was published by a new liberal satire website run by Christopher Blair on which he is planning to fake kill many more people in the near future. Th
Lead Stories→ Old Network of Anti-Islam Fake News Websites Turns To Twitter Trolling
Tara, Jesica, Ana, Lora: since a few weeks dozens of trolls on Twitter are dangling bait in front of American Trump supporters. Their goal: bring in as many clicks as possible for two commercial, (potentially Serbian) anti-islam websites. And
Lead Stories→ The Ultimate Christopher Blair and America’s Last Line of Defense Reading List
Yesterday Eli Saslow at the Washington Post wrote a fantastic article about Christopher Blair, a man from Maine who has been trolling conservatives and Trump supporters online for years and occasionally even made a living out of it. Blair's ma
Truth or Fiction?→ Facebook Spread Fake News, Hired ‘Trackers’ to Smear Critics
In mid-November 2018, the New York Times published a bombshell report about Facebook that convulsed both traditional and social media. The beleaguered site has been at the center of scandal after fake news scandal from the mass displacement and genocid
Truth or Fiction?→ White Supremacist Arrested After Calling a Domestic Terror Attack ‘a Dry Run’
A man with ties to some of the most violent hate groups in the United States has been arrested and charged with illegal possession of firearms just weeks after his younger brother — also reportedly a known white supremacist — committed suicide. A
Lead Stories→ Fake News Website YourNewsWire Renamed NewsPunch (Again) — Possibly To Avoid Filters
YourNewsWire used to be one of the most notorious websites spreading fake news, often by using bits and pieces of real news articles from other websites to create new articles which would then get a headline and introduction that would greatly
Lead Stories→ BBC Interviews Christopher Blair And Maarten Schenk in "The Faker and The Fact Checker"
Recently the BBC World Service's "Trending" programme did a two part story about Christopher Blair, the liberal troll and internet hoaxer well known to anybody who has been following Lead Stories' reporting on him. Christopher has made it his
Lead Stories→ Satirical Fake News Writer Christopher Blair Announces Midterm Election Moratorium
Readers of this site are probably aware that some of the content found on Macedonian fake news websites is often copied directly from the satirical sites and Facebook pages of Christopher Blair and his friends. On those sites and pages they wr
Makeshift Bombs Sent to Subjects of Major Conspiracy Theories
In the final weeks of October 2018, following months of increasingly shrill, increasingly baroque conspiracy theories pushed by official after elected official, someone began sending mail bombs out to their favorite subjects. The first person to receive a mail bomb was philanthropist billionaire George Soros, who has been the American far right’s favorite bugbear at least […]
The post Makeshift Bombs Sent to Subjects of Major Conspiracy Theories appeared first on What’s True?.
Truth or Fiction?→ Makeshift Bombs Sent to Subjects of Major Conspiracy Theories
In the final weeks of October 2018, following months of increasingly shrill, increasingly baroque conspiracy theories pushed by official after elected official, someone began sending mail bombs out to their favorite subjects. The first person to recei
Rumors About Caravan of Asylum-Seekers Reach New Heights
As a caravan consisting of thousands of asylum-seekers from Central America drew ever closer to Mexico’s border with the United States to prepare to turn themselves in to border authorities en masse and request asylum, the usual fearmongering suspects did what they do best: whipping up racial hatred with disinformation and propaganda. “Democrat approved migrant […]
The post Rumors About Caravan of Asylum-Seekers Reach New Heights appeared first on What’s True?.