Just as disinformation against vaccinations resurfaced yet again in 2021, so too did a cartoon warning readers about the dangers it brings. The oddly topical cartoon shows four men — identified as an “anti-vaccinationist,” a “fa
Publication: disinformation
Truth or Fiction?→ Was Snow White ‘Cancelled’?
On May 3 2021, social media rumors that Snow White was “cancelled” by “woke mobs” began circulating, pushed along by the usual disinformation purveyors: Disneyland Revamps Snow White Ride, Adds Prince Waking Her With A Kiss. F
Truth or Fiction?→ Anti-Vaccine Disinformation Still Going Strong on Social Media: Report
Just twelve accounts are responsible for fully two-thirds of online disinformation about vaccines — but social media platforms still aren’t doing much about them. In a follow-up to a report tracking a majority of disinformation about vaccin
Truth or Fiction?→ Did RuPaul Say Evidence of the Armenian Genocide ‘Just Isn’t There’?
A brand-new Twitter account manufactured cheap online clout in April 2021 by posting a false “report” painting television host RuPaul as a political commentator. The account, “Breaking Celebrity News,” generated angry responses
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘New Poll Spells Doom For Democrats in the 2022 Midterm Elections’
On April 27 2021, Trendolizer.com featured a TrendingPolitics.com item titled “UH OH: New Poll Spells Doom For Democrats In The 2022 Midterm Elections” for much of the day — purportedly reporting unfavorable polling data then-recently
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Biden Tells Un-Vaccinated Americans They May Have to Cancel the Fourth of July’
On April 22 2021, repeat disinformation offender Hannity.com published a post with the outrage-bait headline, “JOE NO! Biden Tells Un-Vaccinated Americans They May Have to Cancel the Fourth of July,” which contained a single paragraph of or
Truth or Fiction?→ Daily Wire: BLM ‘Fuming’ After Chauvin ‘Guilty’ Verdict
According to Trendolizer.com on April 21 2021, one of the most viral links of the day was DailyWire.com outrage bait headlined, “Black Lives Matter Activists Following Conviction: ‘We’re Never Gonna Be Satisfied,’ ‘Burn It Down!’”
Truth or Fiction?→ Rep. Maxine Waters Accused of ‘Inciting a Riot’
On April 19 2021, far-right blogger and commentator Dan Bongino shared an hour-long video under the title “Ep. 1502 Caught on Tape, Maxine Waters Is Inciting Violence.” It appeared to be very similar to a claim tweeted by self-styled right-
Truth or Fiction?→ Charlie Kirk Has Dueling Opinions on ‘Resist’ and ‘Disobey’
On April 13 2021, an Imgur user shared Twitter screenshots purportedly showing contradictory opinions from right-wing activist Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA, an organization promoting far right views on high school and college campuses. In a post t
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Y’all, Check Your Attics’ Facebook Warning
In April 2021, a March 8 2019 Facebook post about a man caught secretly living in a woman’s attic went viral — purportedly told from the point of view of the unfortunate woman’s son. The Post and its Variations Originally, the text of
Truth or Fiction?→ Midwin Charles ‘Just Got Vaccinated’ Tweet
After the sudden death of commentator Midwin Charles (disclosed on April 6 2021), a tweet attributed to Charles stating that she “just got vaccinated” circulated on Twitter: The tweet, which was dated 10:18 AM on March 1 2021, said: Just g
Truth or Fiction?→ Politicians Claim That Deaths By Suicide Increased During Lockdowns; Mortality Report Says Otherwise
On April 4 2021, Twitter user Elizabeth Jacobs PhD (@TheAngryEpi) tweeted about political claims involving quarantine-related suicides in 2020, contrasted with March 2021 data about mortality rates for the year before: Politicians told us repeatedly
Truth or Fiction?→ Ben Shapiro ‘My #Redpill Moment’ Tweet
A March 27 2021 Facebook post purportedly featured a tweet from commentator Ben Shapiro, in which he described experiencing what he called his “#redpill moment” at age seven during a birthday at school: The tweet, which was dated March 26 2
Truth or Fiction?→ Facebook’s Zuckerberg Falsely Tells Lawmakers ‘We Don’t Allow’ Disinformation in Ads
Facebook chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg misrepresented his company’s disinformation policy on advertising while testifying to federal lawmakers on March 25 2021. Zuckerberg made the false claim — which flies in the face of his comp
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Abe Lincoln Statue Vandalized with Poop, Paint; Arrested Suspect is a Black Lives Matter Leader’
On March 24 2021, the disinformation-friendly Daily Wire published an item with the headline, “Abe Lincoln Statue Vandalized With Poop, Paint; Arrested Suspect Is A Black Lives Matter Leader.” It began: A Black Lives Matter activist in Boi
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
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘BLM Trapped 100 Shoppers’ in Wegman’s in Rochester, Explained
On March 23 2021, right-wing websites started pushing claims that Black Lives Matter protesters had “trapped” more than a hundred grocery shoppers inside a Rochester, New York Wegman’s supermarket: BREAKING: BLM Protesters Mob Stor
Truth or Fiction?→ The ‘Yellow Square’ Instagram Controversy, Explained
On March 17 2021, the day a spree shooter reportedly killed eight people at three Asian spas, the verified Instagram account @88rising shared a simple yellow square — content which led to significant and tense discourse. The Incident On March 16
Truth or Fiction?→ PragerU ‘Racism = Bad’ Graphic
On March 13 2021, the Facebook page Comrade Britney shared the following Gravel Institute (@GravelInstitute) tweet from one day prior, depicting a purported PragerU graphic describing “leftist logic” as “racism = bad”: HmmR
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Congresswoman Ilhan Omar Propose a ‘Rent and Mortgage Cancellation Act,’ But While ‘Failing to Explain How Landlords, Banks’ Would Pay Bills?
On March 12 2021, Sean Hannity continued his disinformation offensive when he shared a post in a tweet that read, “THIS IS REAL: Omar Introduces Bill to ‘Cancel All Rent And Mortgage Payments Until April 2022′”: THIS IS REAL:
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Dove Remove ‘Normal’ from Packaging So People Don’t Feel ‘Excluded’?
On March 10 2021, Sean Hannity continued his barrage of disinformation about so-called “cancel culture” (which has replaced the phrase “political correctness”) by sharing a claim that Dove had removed the word “normalR
Truth or Fiction?→ Has Disney Canceled ‘Dumbo,’ ‘Peter Pan,’ and ‘The Aristocats?’
On March 9 2021, disinformation purveyor Sean Hannity tweeted at least twice to complain Disney had “canceled” the childrens’ films Dumbo, Peter Pan, and The Aristocats: THE PURGE! Disney Pulls Dumbo, Peter Pan, The Aristocats, Swi
Truth or Fiction?→ Far-Right U.S. Legislators Using Disinformation to Gain, Strengthen Positions
Even as acolytes of former United States president Donald Trump consider running to replace retiring Republicans, his allies already in the U.S. government are trying to throw up barriers to passing broadly popular legislation — but all are leani
Truth or Fiction?→ Do Bodies Float in Lake Superior?
In early March 2021, as the first signs of spring began to touch the Northern Hemisphere and melt the ice rimes from its lakes, a popular Facebook post claiming that bodies in Lake Superior don’t float was very popular: Well… Here’s
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Doctors and Experts Advise Against Taking Experimental Jab’: Fake Headline Circulating
On March 3 2021, a screenshot February 2021 headline from The Times (UK) — “Doctors and experts advise against taking experimental jab” — spread virally across anti-vaccine social media groups. It looked like this: We first spotted t
Truth or Fiction?→ Did the Biden Administration Censor, Cancel, or Ban Dr. Seuss Books Due to Racist Content?
On March 2 2021, throngs of Twitter users objected to the purported canceling or banning of books by Theodor Geisel, also known as children’s author Dr. Seuss. In some tellings, it was actual censorship — a state-sponsored cancellation that
Truth or Fiction?→ Are Life Insurance Policies Being Canceled Because of the COVID-19 Vaccine?
As an example of how disinformation can get laundered through Facebook, witness the attempt to spread a lie about the current vaccination efforts against the COVID-19 pandemic. The claim originated with a post from a user based in England reading: Che
Truth or Fiction?→ Avoid That ‘Popcorn in Muffin Tin’ Hack Which ‘Breaks the Internet’
A February 12 2021 “muffin tin popcorn hack” shared to Facebook Watch by the page “Paul Vu” went viral almost instantly; it purported to demonstrate how to produce the colorful (and clearly mass-produced) varieties of flavored
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Ted Cruz Blame ‘Cancel Culture’ For his Mexico Trip?
As the anger toward right-wing Texas Sen. Ted Cruz led to widespread criticism and ridicule for deserting his Texas constituents amid historically harsh winter conditions in February 2021 and attempting to blame his daughters for his decision, parodie
Truth or Fiction?→ Ted Cruz Didn’t Tweet ‘I’ll Believe in Climate Change When Texas Freezes Over’
As Republican senator Ted Cruz came under fire for fleeing a freezing Texas for Cancun in February 2021, memes could be found all over social media — among them a screenshot of a purported tweet in which Cruz was quoted as saying he would beli
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Green New Deal. Pray For Texas.’
The scramble by right-wing politicians and pundits to spread disinformation amid the winter storms devastating Texas in February 2021 led to a long-debunked graphic finding new life online — again. The photograph shows a helicopter hovering near
Truth or Fiction?→ Was Ashli Babbitt’s Death ‘Exposed as a Hollywood Stunt’?
A blog with a history of publishing weaponized disinformation attempted to use the death of one of the rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol in January 2021 as grist for another conspiracy theory. The “story,” posted on Before It’s N
Truth or Fiction?→ Law Professor Refutes Trump Attorneys’ Attempt to Cite Him in Impeachment Defense
An effort to sow weaponized disinformation benefiting former United States president Donald Trump ahead of his second impeachment trial was blunted in early February 2021, when the legal scholar cited by his attorneys publicly debunked their claims. T
Truth or Fiction?→ MyPillow Guy ‘Lindell: Capitol Rioters Were Drugged By Antifa Sluts’
On February 5 2021, “Business Standard News” published an item with the headline, “Lindell: Capitol Rioters Were Drugged By Antifa Sluts,” which claimed — true to its headline — that MyPillow’s chief executive
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘GME Frenzy Claims First Life’
On February 4 2021, a screenshot of a purported news article (“GME frenzy claims first life as 28yo retail trader shoots himself in Florida”) spread on Facebook and Reddit, appearing to report the death of a man named Jake McGuirrey of Peb
Truth or Fiction?→ Was AOC ‘Not in the Capitol’ During Riots on January 6 2021?
On February 3 2021, a viral tweet by @Breaking911 claimed that “AOC.” or Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) was not in the Capitol building during the January 6 2021 riots, adding that “rioters did not breach the Cannon Build
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘President Trump’s New Office Looks STUNNING’
Even after the end of his presidency, supporters of Donald Trump continued peddling bad information online in February 2021. Anti-Muslim lecturer Brigitte Gabriel posted a photograph of Trump on Twitter saying, “President Trump’s new office lo
Truth or Fiction?→ Does Jen Psaki Have a Brother Working for Citadel LLC?
As discourse and debate surrounding online trading in general and the app Robinhood in particular continued to spread in January 2021, some right-wing social media users attempted to link it to new White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, claiming that
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Robinhood Insider Information’ Reddit Post
During the viral frenzy of rumors surrounding Robinhood’s controversial decision to halt buying on popular tickers (including $GME and $AMC), a post from a brand-new Reddit account (u/Odin19199) became a major part of the day’s discourse:
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Elon Musk Tweet ‘If $GME Reach $1000 I Will Put the GameStop Logo on My Next Rocket’?
As retail traders drove GameStop ($GME) to stratospheric heights on January 26 and 27 2021, chatter on ticker-centric sites spiked in volume; several social stock platforms displayed a purported tweet attributed to entrepreneur Elon Musk referencing $