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Publication: conspiracy theories
Truth or Fiction?→ A Recent History of George Soros Conspiracy Theories
If you have spent any time on the internet since 2016 — and who hasn’t? — you’ll be familiar with right wing bugbear George Soros, an extremely rich philanthropist who donates generously to liberal and progressive causes, and i
The Dispatch→ War Fever
An apartment in Irpin destroyed by a Russian bombardment in the area. Evidence of the destruction wrought by the war is still very visible in the town of Irpin, close to Kyiv. (Photo by Dominika Zarzycka/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images)On the rise
Truth or Fiction?→ Arizona Election Deniers Wilted When Asked for Proof: Report
Election deniers in Arizona folded when asked to provide proof of their voting-related conspiracy theories, according to a Washington Post report. The story was based on an investigation into “voter fraud” carried out by then-state Attorney
The Dispatch→ Rogan’s Jews
Joe Rogan. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images.)What the shock jock doesn’t get about antisemitic conspiracies.The post Rogan’s Jews appeared first on The Dispatch.
Truth or Fiction?→ Election Denier Kari Lake Facing Investigation as Arizona GOP Further Embraces Conspiracy Theories
Shortly after a state election that saw her party cohorts double down on conspiracy theories, failed right-wing Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake faced a possible investigation for wrongfully sharing voter information. Lake, who lost the Novemb
The Dispatch→ Does ‘Balenciaga’ Mean ‘Baal Is King?’
Claims are circulating on social media that the name of the luxury fashion brand Balenciaga is a conjunction of a phrase that translates to mean “Baal Is King.” These claims are false. View this post on Instagram A post
Truth or Fiction?→ Michigan Republican Leaves State Senate Regurgitating ‘Great Replacement’ Smears
A normally sedate occasion gave outgoing Michigan Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey the opportunity to instead peddle highly weaponized conspiracy theories and disinformation campaigns. “I can see things that are about to happen or are going to
The Dispatch→ Stop the Stealers (Mostly) Concede
With some holdouts, losing GOP candidates accept the will of the voters. The post Stop the Stealers (Mostly) Concede appeared first on The Dispatch.
The Dispatch→ Election Deniers Denied—Mostly
Voters repudiated many of Donald Trump’s favored 'Stop the Steal' candidates in state-level races.The post Election Deniers Denied—Mostly appeared first on The Dispatch.
The Dispatch→ ‘Do Your Job or You Will Hang’
Election officials grapple with continuing distrust and threats ahead of Tuesday’s midterms. The post ‘Do Your Job or You Will Hang’ appeared first on The Dispatch.
Snopes→ Jurors Must Decide How Much Newtown Families Suffering Worth
A judge last year found Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems, liable by default for defaming and inflicting emotional distress on the plaintiffs.
Snopes→ No, Uvalde Shooting Victim’s 2 Fathers Were Not Proof of a ‘False Flag’
Conspiracy theorists reached unimaginable new lows in response to the grief of parents whose children were slaughtered in their elementary school classroom.
Snopes→ Does Bill Gates Own the Majority of US Farmland?
Uncertainty breeds conspiracy theories.
Poynter→ False flags are real, but far less widespread than social media suggest
Citing newly acquired intelligence, the U.S. in early February accused Russia of plotting a fake attack by Ukrainian forces as a pretext for invading the neighboring country. U.S. officials provided few details […] The post False flags are real
Snopes→ No, a Wayfair ‘Doswell’ Wardrobe Doesn’t Match the Name of a Missing Child
An online hoax in 2021 echoed a false rumor from the previous year.
Truth or Fiction?→ Travis Scott and Astroworld: Occult Conspiracies Follow Festival Tragedy
The November 5 2021 “crowd crush” tragedy at Travis Scott’s Astroworld festival in Houston, Texas prompted extensive discussion on social media — complete with major threads focusing on purported occult overtones surrounding the
Snopes→ Halyna Hutchins Did Not Tweet About Hillary Clinton Before Death
Halyna Hutchins did not tweet about Hillary Clinton before her tragic and sudden death.
Truth or Fiction?→ Online Conspiracy Theorists Swarm ‘HRC’ Suez Canal Boat Jam
Reports of a container ship creating a traffic jam on the Suez Canal in Egypt quickly became grist for online conspiracy theorists, who spun the story into another smear against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. As the BBC reported, the Ever G
New York Times→ Trump Repeats Debunked Election Claims in Call With Georgia Official
The president recited a number of viral online falsehoods involving dead voters, Dominion voting machines, shredded ballots and a water leak, among other baseless claims of fraud.
New York Times→ Fact-Checking Trump’s Debunked Election Claims in Georgia Call
The president recited a number of viral online falsehoods involving dead voters, Dominion voting machines, shredded ballots and a water leak, among other baseless claims of fraud.
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘George Soros With the Owner of Smartmatic’
As conspiracy theorists continued trying to convince themselves that Donald Trump did not definitively lose the November 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden, they also found another way to recycle — yet again — a reliable boogeyman in
Poynter→ Conspiracy theories are causing people to fear the harmless and ignore the harmful
Factually is a newsletter about fact-checking and accountability journalism, from Poynter’s International Fact-Checking Network & the American Press Institute’s Accountability Project. Sign up here Threats real and imagined It would be easy if
Poynter→ Platforms scramble to contend with QAnon. Are they too late?
Factually is a newsletter about fact-checking and accountability journalism, from Poynter’s International Fact-Checking Network & the American Press Institute’s Accountability Project. Sign up here The Q factor For people who thought QAnon exis
Poynter→ Doctors’ cries of censorship become part of their message
Factually is a newsletter about fact-checking and accountability journalism, from Poynter’s International Fact-Checking Network & the American Press Institute’s Accountability Project. Sign up here Misinformation and claims of censorship The ma
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Fireworks Every Night’ in June 2020
On June 20 2020, the Facebook page “Son of Baldwin” shared what would later become a popular iteration of a “fireworks conspiracy” set of rumors, spreading from several points on Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit: The Facebook
Truth or Fiction?→ “Google ‘322 COVID’”
On June 14 2020, posts asking readers to do a web search for the phrase “322 COVID” began circulating (particularly in QAnon circles), with an implication that the act would reveal that the novel coronavirus was a “scamdemic” a
Truth or Fiction?→ Obamagate, Explained
Chances are you saw at least a passing reference to “Obamagate” in May 2020, and chances are similar you (like many) struggled to understand what “Obamagate” might actually be. We’ll do our best to break it down. WhatR
Truth or Fiction?→ Does House Bill 6666 (the TRACE Act) Allow the Government to Enter Your Home, Test for COVID-19, and Take Your Children or Parents?
In early May 2020, a number of panicked posts about proposed legislation (H.R. 6666, also called the Testing, Reaching, And Contacting Everyone, or TRACE Act) began spreading on social media, including a May 8 2020 video with a massive 2.5 million vie
Truth or Fiction?→ Conspiracy Theorists, Celebrities Push Disinformation Blaming Cell Towers for COVID-19
As conspiracy theories — fanned in part by public figures — continue spreading, feeding into a feverish, misdirected blame leveled at mobile phone towers for the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities in Great Britain are investigating a spate o
Truth or Fiction?→ Did a Phalanx of Corporate Chief Executive Officers Step Down Ahead of COVID-19?
In March 2020, as conspiracy theorists rushed to find “meaning” to the COVID-19 pandemic, one graphic circulating online listed departures from several high-profile companies which suggested that the executives left their positions in adva
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘He’s 18’: Twitter Trending Topics Amplifies Quaden Bayles Conspiracy Theory
Not long after Quaden Bayles became the virally popular star of an anti-bullying campaign, Twitter’s trending topics boosted a conspiracy theory under “He’s 18,” linked to tweets alleging the nine-year-old boy was a much olde
Truth or Fiction?→ Lysol + Coronavirus = Conspiracy
As fears of a coronavirus outbreak spread virally on social media in late January 2020, so too did posts about the packaging of Lysol and what some people saw as a suspicious mention of a viral strain that was new to them: LYSOL WAS INVENTED IN 1
Truth or Fiction?→ Seattle November 3 2019 False Flag Attack Rumor
Rumors of a “false flag” terror attack in Seattle on November 3 2019 spiked in popularity in specific shadowy corners of social media in late October 2019, although by that point, the highly specious claims were several weeks old. A Septem
Truth or Fiction?→ This Is Not Angela Merkel With Adolf Hitler
On September 26 2019, a since-suspended Twitter account (@4truthbombs) shared an image purporting to show a very young Angela Merkel with a previous, infamous chancellor — Adolf Hitler: The disinformation attempt appeared not long after Merkel spo
Truth or Fiction?→ Lyndon LaRouche: An Explainer
An attempt to troll U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) in early October 2019 led to newfound attention for the devotees of failed political candidate, convicted felon, and one-time Marxist-turned-Democratic-presidential-candidate-turned-f
Truth or Fiction?→ Were the Bones of Children Found on Epstein’s Island?
On August 20 2019, the Facebook page “The Trump Room” shared the following post (archived here), claiming that children’s bones were found on Jeffrey Epstein’s private island and questioning why this had not been reported: W
Truth or Fiction?→ Nick Hinton 2012 Thread
A rather nihilistic rumor — that all of humanity died in 2012, and that this is all either a shared hallucination or the afterlife — was not new in late July 2019, but the theory went viral on social media after Twitter user Nick Hinton (@nickhin
Snopes→ Did a Planned Congressional Delegation to Afghanistan Include 93 Family Members?
Conspiracy theorists provided no evidence for claims that Congressional Democrats and their relatives were part of a shadowy plot to remove the president and vice president from office.
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Four Artificially Intelligent Robots Kill 29 Humans in a Japan Lab?
On December 15, 2018, a Facebook user shared what appeared to be a screenshot of an article reporting the shocking news that dozens of Japanese scientists had been killed by rebellious artificial intelligence: An Instagram handle was visible in the sc