A right-wing, fully debunked smear about “students identifying as cats” spread further up the disinformation chain in late September 2022, going from local school gossip to statements from Republican gubernatorial candidates: Right-Wing La
Publication: disinformation
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Former Turning Point USA Youth Events Coordinator Adam Hageman Sentenced to 66 Months …’
On September 28 2022, an Imgur screenshot of a contemporaneous tweet claimed that a youth coordinator for right-wing campus activist group Turning Point USA, Adam Hageman, was sentenced to 66 months in prison in connection with a “child pornograp
Truth or Fiction?→ Elected Officials Spread Questionable Claims of ‘Rainbow Fentanyl’
Claims of “rainbow fentanyl” are ushering in the 2022 Halloween season, but the most frightening aspect of the rumors might be how willing lawmakers are to believe them. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) has taken up the tal
Truth or Fiction?→ Rep. Liz Cheney ‘Message to Trump’ Tweet
On September 26 2022, an Imgur account shared a screenshot of a tweet attributed to Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming): Lol Alongside the post, the Imgur submitter included a link to a September 26 2022 set of tweets. Elements like links to tweets are often
Truth or Fiction?→ Fake AOC ‘Electric Cars’ Tweet Resurfaced in Hurricane Ian Discourse
On September 26 2022, as Hurricane Ian entered the news cycle, screenshots of a tweet attributed to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) about gas station lines and electric cars circulated — again: pic.twitter.com/JzsnKOcPWF — MAGA
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Defund the Police’ Digitally Altered Attack Ad
On September 25 2022, a screenshot of a popular tweet apparently showed a dishonest attack advertisement against Rep. Ricky Hurtado (D- North Carolina): Look at this – it’s a comically dishonest political attack in NC. Rep. Ricky Hurtado ha
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Kyrsten Sinema Introducing Donald Trump’ Video
On September 26 2022, Twitter user Paul Lahticks (@PaulLahticks) shared a purported video showing Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Arizona) with former U.S. President Donald Trump: BREAKING: After teaming up with Mitch McConnell today in Louisville to give a s
Poynter→ Tunisia’s ‘disinfo’ decree threatens to lock up rule violators
Tunisia just passed a law that would imprison purveyors of “disinformation” for up to five years. Critics of the law — which include political opponents of Tunisian President Kais Saied, […] The post Tunisia’s ‘disinfo’ decree threate
Truth or Fiction?→ Trump ‘Peekaboo’ Truth Social Post
On September 21 2022, screenshots of a Truth Social post referencing New York state attorney general Letitia “Peekaboo” James and attributed to former United States President Donald Trump began circulating; it was quickly shared to Reddit&#
Truth or Fiction?→ Russia ‘Traffic Jam at the Finnish Border’ Video
On September 21 2022, “Russia traffic jam” became a trending topic on Twitter, largely due to the virality of a tweet purportedly showing massive gridlock at the border shared by Russia and Finland: #Breaking: just in – The traffic
Truth or Fiction?→ Florida Gov. DeSantis Sued for ‘Fraudulent and Illegal Scheme’ Against Immigrants
Attorneys representing a group of immigrants filed a class-action lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on September 20 2022, accusing him of organizing their wrongful transport from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard. The group Lawyers for Civil
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘NyQuil Chicken Challenge,’ Explained
On September 20 2022, Twitter’s “trending topics” prominently featured “NyQuil chicken” (purportedly due to a dangerous TikTok trend or “challenge,”) and clicking on the topic directed people to a large warning
Truth or Fiction?→ Georgia ‘Fake Elector’ Had More Access to Voting Equipment Than Previously Reported
On September 20 2022, discussions about a “fake elector” in Georgia appeared on several of Reddit’s subreddits: These fake electors should be in prison by now. from WhitePeopleTwitter A post shared to r/WhiteP
Truth or Fiction?→ The COVID-19 Pandemic Is Not ‘Over’
On September 18 2022, during a 60 Minutes segment, United States President Joe Biden’s remarks included a claim that the COVID-19 pandemic was “over” — leading to quite a lot of pushback: In an interview on “60 Minutes&#
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Shameful and Inhuman’: Federal Agents Accused of Planting Fake Addresses on Immigrants
As criticism and attention piled onto right-wing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) for shipping a group of fifty asylum seekers from Texas to Massachusetts, an immigration attorney accused federal operatives of lying to the immigrants as part of that proce
Poynter→ How Twitter’s edit button could fuel the misinformation machine
In just 30 minutes, a single-word tweet from The Washington Post racked up 2,543 retweets and quote tweets. The post said, simply, “news.” The internet similarly went wild for other […] The post How Twitter’s edit button could fuel the misi
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Late Term Abortion’ Legislation
On September 13 2022, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) announced a press conference regarding a proposed federal “late term abortions” ban, which was called the “Protecting Pain-Capable Unborn Children from Late-Term Abortions
Truth or Fiction?→ Michigan Woman Blames Internet Conspiracy Theories for Father’s Fatal Shooting Rampage
A Michigan woman whose father committed a fatal shooting attack against their family on September 11 2022 identified the “QAnon” conspiracy theory and several strands of online disinformation for the mental degeneration that preceded his ac
Truth or Fiction?→ Trump Fundraising Email: ‘Eric and I Were Having Dinner Tonight’
On September 5 2022, a popular post to Reddit’s r/WhitePeopleTwitter purportedly depicted a fundraising email connected to former United States President Donald Trump: Imagine the type of people who actually subscribe to Trump’s
Truth or Fiction?→ Biden’s ‘Red Speech’
In early September 2022, images from a speech given by United States President Joe Biden quickly nicknamed the “red speech” — so called because it appeared to be against the backdrop of menacing red lights — began circulating on
Truth or Fiction?→ Former U.S. President Boosts QAnon, 4Chan Disinformation via Truth Social App
On August 29 and 30 2022, former United States President Donald Trump turned to his app Truth Social to share dozens of disinformation-heavy posts — content that was largely not visible to users not registered with the app, but which prompted s
Truth or Fiction?→ GOP Candidates Scrub Anti-Abortion Positions From Campaign Sites After Kansas Referendum
On August 28 2022, screenshots of tweets claiming that Republican candidates were hastily, and quietly, amending their positions on abortion from vocally supportive of widespread restrictions to a more nebulous stance: Huh. Is forced birth unpopular
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Doug Mastriano, Jenna Ellis, and Breitbart Touted a Fake Polling Firm Created by a High School Student’
On August 25 2022, a popular screenshot of a tweet on Imgur claimed that right-wing entities fell for and promoted a “poll” on Twitter — without checking to determine whether it was credible: Amazing but not surprising: Doug Mastr
Truth or Fiction?→ House Report: Trump Advisor Plotted With ‘Known Extremists’ to Promote Bogus COVID-19 Drug
A discredited advisor to former United States President Donald Trump “exerted inappropriate pressure” on federal officials to promote a similarly discredited treatment for COVID-19, a House committee said in a report released on August 24 2
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Book Banned at School Named After its Author’
On August 23 2022, an Imgur account shared an image claiming that a school in Texas had banned a book authored by George Dawson — the same person for whom the school was named: Everything’s bigger in Texas. Including stupidity On the same da
Truth or Fiction?→ Crowder and Shapiro Student Loan Forgiveness-PPP Controversy
As social media anticipated an August 23 2022 announcement on student loan forgiveness from the Biden administration, right-wing Twitter pundits like Steven Crowder and Ben Shapiro criticized the move. The next day, multiple news outlets reported that
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Louisiana Withholding Flood Funding from New Orleans’ in Abortion Disagreement
On August 22 2022, an Imgur account shared a screenshot of the following tweet, which claimed that the state of Louisiana was withholding flood funding from New Orleans in an abortion-related disagreement — just as the anniversary of 2005’
Truth or Fiction?→ Kansas Abortion Recount Affirms Will of the Voters
On August 22 2022, a post to Reddit’s r/politics (and r/all) said that a Kansas abortion referendum recount reaffirmed the initial tally — indicating that voters in Kansas continue to overwhelmingly favor legal access to abortion in the sta
Truth or Fiction?→ Did France’s Loire River ‘Run Dry’ in August 2022?
On August 14 2022, a Facebook account shared a photograph and a status update about France’s Loire River, which had purportedly “run dry” or “dried out” amid intense heat waves and drought conditions in the summer of 2022
Truth or Fiction?→ Nixon Blasts ‘False Charges’
On August 19 2022, an Imgur account shared what appeared to be an August 1973 New York Daily News front page, and a headline stating “Nixon Blasts ‘False Charges'”: The submission, which was titled “The past isn’t over,
Poynter→ Obama was warning about disinformation, not endorsing it
A speech about the dangers of disinformation that former President Barack Obama gave at Stanford University on April 21, 2022, is being used months later on social media to spread […] The post Obama was warning about disinformation, not endorsing
Truth or Fiction?→ Former CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden’s ‘I Agree’ Tweet
On August 17 2022, an Imgur account shared a screenshot of a concise tweet attributed to a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director, Gen. Michael Hayden: In the screenshot shared to Imgur, Gen. Hayden appeared to retweet an observation by Fin
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘I’m Very Worried for Our Agent Trump’: Host on Russian State Media
On August 17 2022, a post to Reddit’s r/worldnews suggested that a broadcaster on Russian state media had said “I’m very worried about our agent Trump,” during a segment mentioning the August 2022 Federal Bureau of Investigatio
Poynter→ How ‘War on Fakes’ uses fact-checking to spread pro-Russia propaganda
Soon after Russia invaded Ukraine, a newly-launched fact-checking service called War on Fakes published a piece claiming to debunk the notion that Ukrainians were not waging an information war against Russians. Not […] The post How ‘War on Fa
Truth or Fiction?→ House Report Shows How ‘Herd Immunity’ Disinformation Influenced Trump’s COVID Response
As the United States deals with both the continued spread of COVID-19 and a rise in monkeypox cases around the country, a House subcommittee report showed how “herd immunity” disinformation gained traction during Donald Trump’s presid
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Anyone Being Investigated by the FBI Is Not Qualified to Be President of the United States’ Trump Quote Is Likely Misattributed
After former United States President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago was raided by the FBI on August 8 2022, an extremely widespread set of memes claimed Trump repeatedly said “anyone being investigated by the FBI” was unfit to hold the off
Truth or Fiction?→ Benny Johnson’s ‘Trump’s Enthusiasm is Bigger Than in 2016’ Deleted Tweet
On August 6 2022, Twitter user Ron Filipkowski tweeted a screenshot of a tweet that was purportedly posted, and then quietly deleted by right-wing blogger Benny Johnson, in which Johnson shared an image that he claimed was from a rally for former Unite
Truth or Fiction?→ Kansas Abortion Amendment
On August 1 2022, a Twitter account shared a screenshot of a text message urging Kansas residents to “vote YES” on a proposed amendment relating to abortion: This is as dirty as you can get. The anti-abortion coalition is sending out a la
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘NASA Just Dropped New Planet Pics’
A July 23 2022 Facebook user’s post (“NASA just dropped new planet pics ”) spread virally in the next few days, likely inspired by then-popular new images from (and content about) NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST): In t
Truth or Fiction?→ Vice President Kamala Harris ‘I Am a Woman Sitting at the Table Wearing a Blue Suit’ Controversy
On July 26 2022, the Republican National Committee’s @RNCResearch mockingly tweeted a clip of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris stating her pronouns (“she/her”) and adding that she was a woman wearing a blue suit: "I am Kamala