On June 2 2023, a Reddit user shared a post claiming that YouTube altered a policy and was no longer restricting false claims about the 2020 election in the United States: YouTube changes policy to allow false claims about past US presidenti
Publication: election disinformation
Truth or Fiction?→ Charlie Kirk Reads Messages From Georgians Bragging About Not Voting?
On December 8 2022, two Imgur accounts shared screenshots of a popular tweet which claimed that right-wing pundit and disinformation purveyor Charlie Kirk spent the first hour of his online show “reading emails from his listeners who said they d
Truth or Fiction?→ An Arizona County Won’t Certify Election Results After 2022 Midterms
On November 29 2022, an Imgur account shared a text-based image containing the claim that a county in Arizona is refusing to certify the results of the November 2022 midterm election: The text said: A thing is going on in Arizona. A few counties, wher
Truth or Fiction?→ More Fake Newspapers Distributed Ahead of 2022 Midterms
On November 1 2022, an Imgur account shared photographs of a “fake newspaper,” designed to conceal political talking points as news: Republican Misinformation Disguised as a Local Newspaper Six images were included in the post, but the n
Truth or Fiction?→ Hammer-Wielding Home Invader Attacks Paul Pelosi, Spouse of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Early on the morning of October 28 2022, news appeared that the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was attacked at their residence by an individual with a hammer. A post to Reddit’s r/WhitePeopleTwitter featured a tweet about the incident:
Truth or Fiction?→ Jan. 6 Hearings: Disinformation Powered Trump’s Push to Overturn Election
The fourth public hearing organized by the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol on June 21 2022 examined how disinformation and smear campaigns were wielded to pressure state officials and private individ
Truth or Fiction?→ CNN Missing 351K (or 400K) Votes in CA Recall Segment, Explained
On September 15 2021, rumors that “351K” or “400K” votes had “disappeared” from California gubernatorial recall totals during a CNN segment were popular on social media: Someone explain to me why the Gavin Newsom r
Truth or Fiction?→ CA Recall Election Disinformation Roundup
In the lead up to the California gubernatorial recall election of September 14 2021, the usual disinformation purveyors went into high gear, poisoning the well with wall-to-wall claims of perfidy and election theft. Overall, the California recall and i
Truth or Fiction?→ 2020 Arizona Ballots Sent to a Lab in Montana
On June 16 2021, news appeared that an ongoing, disinformation-riddled “audit” of 2020 ballots from Arizona had been moved to a remote cabin in Montana for purported further “analysis”: The "secured" Arizona ballots
Truth or Fiction?→ Are Georgia Runoff Voters Being Told Voting Machines Are ‘Malfunctioning’?
Georgia’s long-anticipated runoff elections were slated for January 5 2020; that day, the disreputable site TrendingPolitics.com published an item headlined, “BREAKING: Georgia Voters Sound the Alarm, Claim They’re Being Told Votin
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Trump Got 74 Million Votes With 133 Million Registered Voters in the USA … There’s Only 59 Million Votes Left for Biden, How Did He Get 81 Million?’
On December 19 2020, the following screenshot was shared by someone going by the name Thor Arne to Facebook, questioning the math of the 2020 presidential election, which delivered Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden a resounding victory over Republi
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘How Election Was Stolen,’ ‘Funny How the Rest of the World Gets Different News Than Us’
In late December 2020, a screenshot of a newspaper headline reading “How Election Was Stolen” was belched forth from the bowels of the internet and began to circulate, bearing additional commentary, “Funny how the rest of the world g
Truth or Fiction?→ Far Right News Organizations Issue Statements, Admit ‘No Evidence’ Exists to Support Wall-to-Wall Coverage of Election Fraud
Far right propaganda purveyors like Newsmax, One America News Network, and certain Fox personalities became hot topics after the November 3 2020 election, when they captured a significant number of former Fox News viewers thanks to their regular ̶
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘BREAKING: State of Georgia Issues Huge Announcement, Will Conduct Statewide Signature Audit’
On December 17 2020, right-wing disinformation site TrendingPolitics.com published an item titled “BREAKING: State of Georgia Issues Huge Announcement, Will Conduct Statewide Signature Audit,” which began: In a shocking announcement, the G
Truth or Fiction?→ Is EO 13848 Trump’s ‘Ace in the Hole’ for Election Challenges?
As political disinformation about the 2020 election continued into December 2020, its purveyors turned to Executive Order 13848 — more precisely, claims that EO 13848 existed to ensure that U.S. President Donald Trump would remain in power for a
Truth or Fiction?→ Former Houston Police Captain Arrested, Allegedly Paid $266,400 by ‘Liberty Center for God and Country’ to ‘Investigate Electoral Fraud’
In an unnerving example of how disinformation can erupt into the real world, former Houston police captain Mark Aguirre was arrested on December 15 2020 in connection with a strange, sprawling conspiracy theory involving political megadonors and fanta
Truth or Fiction?→ Dominion Voting Systems and the SolarWinds Vulnerability, Explained
On December 15 2020, a popular post was shared to the far-right forum TheDonald.win. Its topic was included in its title, “Dominion CEO states in MI hearing that Dominion has never used Solarwinds. Pro tip: If you’re gonna remove the Solarwin
Truth or Fiction?→ Trump Tweets About ‘Fake Water Main Break’ on Election Night in Georgia
As electors of the gathered on December 14 2020 in order to finalize the incoming Joe Biden administration, sitting U.S. President Donald Trump continued advancing baseless claims that his decisive loss in the 2020 election was fraudulent, claimingÂ
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘RubyFreeman_Georgia’ Instagram Post
On December 5 2020, a screenshot of an Instagram post began circulating around the usual far-right fringe forums, attributed to a woman named Ruby Freeman (@rubyfreeman_georgia): An admission of election fraud by Ruby Freeman, DemocRAT vote counter
Truth or Fiction?→ Mellissa Carone, Dominion Subcontractor, Goes Viral After Bizarre Michigan ‘Hearing’ Appearance
On December 2 2020, video of “a drunk woman” acting as a witness for purported and nonexistent election fraud went viral, due in part to the following tweet: a drunk woman is trump team’s star witness in michigan pic.twitter.com/qGxEI3
Truth or Fiction?→ Special Forces Did Not Raid a ‘CIA Server Farm’ in Frankfurt to Seize Dominion Servers
In November and December 2020, following Donald Trump’s resounding loss by millions of votes in the presidential election to Joe Biden, rumors spread by those trying to cope with their loss centered around persistent and increasingly ludicrous c
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Twitter Suspend Bobby Piton, an ‘Election Whistleblower,’ to Prevent People ‘Understanding His Testimony’?
On November 30 2020, the name “Bobby Piton” became a trending topic on social media following a “hearing” at an Arizona Hyatt hotel about Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Piton was not mentioned by
Truth or Fiction?→ Did a Lawyer’s Affidavit Mistake Michigan for Minnesota?
As the Trump administration’s attempts to overturn the election continued on November 20 2020, attorney Andrew Fleischman highlighted a possible error in an affidavit filed by lawyer Lin Wood in which a sworn expert apparently confused Minnesota
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘So 54%’ of Americans Believe the 2020 Election Was Fraudulent?
On November 19 2020, “So 54%” was one of Twitter’s trending topics — due to a piece of of misleading math prompted by a tweet and article from TheHill.com: So 54% say he shouldn’t concede. Thanks for admitting more than half
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Monitors Discover a 9,626 Vote Error in the DeKalb County, Georgia Recount?
On November 18 2020, Georgia Republican Party Chair David Shafer tweeted that a “9,626 vote error” had been unearthed in DeKalb County, Georgia — a claim which, naturally, spread rapidly to other platforms: One of our monitors disc
Truth or Fiction?→ Twitter Amends Flag from ‘Official Sources Called This Election Differently’ to ‘Multiple Sources Called This Election Differently’
In mid-November 2020, Twitter updated one of its election information flags, changing the wording from the uncertain-sounding, “Official sources called this election differently” to the even less forceful, “Multiple sources called th
Truth or Fiction?→ Twitter Amends Flag from ‘Official Sources Called This Election Differently’ to ‘Multiple Sources Called This Election Differently’
In mid-November 2020, Twitter updated one of its election information flags, changing the wording from the uncertain-sounding, “Official sources called this election differently” to the even less forceful, “Multiple sources called th
Truth or Fiction?→ Were Electoral Votes (410 for Trump and 128 for Biden) Found on a Dominion Server Seized in Germany?
On November 16 2020, increasingly desperate claims that Donald Trump had actually defeated Joe Biden in the presidential election despite the reality of his decisive defeat continued to circulate; one such rumor included the assertion that Trump won 4
Truth or Fiction?→ Were Electoral Votes (410 for Trump and 128 for Biden) Found on a Dominion Server Seized in Germany?
On November 16 2020, increasingly desperate claims that Donald Trump had actually defeated Joe Biden in the presidential election despite the reality of his decisive defeat continued to circulate; one such rumor included the assertion that Trump won 4
Truth or Fiction?→ This Is Not the ‘Million MAGA March’ on Washington in November 2020
On November 14 and 15 2020, purported aerial photographs of the misleadingly named “Million MAGA March” appeared on Twitter: به زودي هم چنين صØنه هايي را در كشورم پرشيا Ùˆ در مقابل “كورش اÙ
Truth or Fiction?→ Was Dallas Jones, a ‘Biden Campaign Director,’ Arrested For ‘Electoral Fraud’?
On November 15 2020, a blog post titled “Biden Campaign Director Arrested For Electoral Fraud” began circulating on social media platforms like Twitter and Reddit: Apparently Former FBI agent and Joe Biden staffer has been arrested: Dall
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Facebook Remove the Title of ‘President’ from Donald Trump and Designate Him as a ‘Political Candidate’?
On November 13 2020, pundit Dinesh D’Souza asserted on Twitter that Facebook had “removed” the designation of “President” from Donald Trump’s verified Facebook page, downgrading him instead to a mere “politica
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Mexico Planning Joint Military Intervention with Canada If Trump Refuses to Leave Office’
On November 11 2020, a screenshot of a purported article featured the headline “Mexico Planning Joint Military Intervention with Canada If Trump Refuses to Leave Office”: The screenshot showed a story dated November 9 2020, with NPR repor
Truth or Fiction?→ Has RealClearPolitics ‘Rescinded’ Pennsylvania and ‘Uncalled’ the Race?
After the 2020 election was “called” with former United States Vice President Joe Biden as victor, a rumor circulated that a website called RealClearPolitics had “rescinded” Pennsylvania, effectively undoing Biden’s win:
Truth or Fiction?→ Does Benford’s Law Prove Election Fraud in Biden Votes?
After the 2020 election was called for former Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden, “Benford’s Law” — a mathematical principle applied occasionally to the count of votes in any given election — became a hot topic on soci
Truth or Fiction?→ Did an Antrim County, Michigan ‘Software Glitch’ Send ‘6,000 Trump Votes to Biden’?
On November 6 2020, several high-engagement tweets claimed that in Antrim County, Michigan, “6,000 Trump votes” were incorrectly recorded as votes for Democratic Party presidential candidate Joe Biden due to a “software glitch”
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Election Fraud is Real, and It’s Happening Right Now’
On November 4 2020, Twitter user @KAGWAR2020 shared the following images of mail on the side of the road, labeling them “evidence” of “election fraud” (archived): …election fraud is real. and it's happening right no
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Special Paper,’ ‘Watermarked Ballots’ Conspiracy Theory Spreads on Social Media
As Democratic Party presidential candidate Joe Biden began pulling ahead in the 2020 election, Twitter user @jdburney1 generated engagement and accrued followers by advancing a “watermarked ballots” conspiracy theory (which we archived h
Truth or Fiction?→ Can Georgia Voters Check and ‘Cure’ Rejected Ballots Before November 6 2020?
On November 5 2020, social media posts urged Georgia voters to check the status of their ballots, further adding that voters with rejected ballots could “cure” their ballots if they acted quickly – often advising them to call the num
Truth or Fiction?→ No, Arizona’s Sharpie Ballots Were Not Spoiled
As vote-counting carried over into November 4 2020, disinformation about uncalled states spread on social media — such as a claim that poll workers in Arizona distributed Sharpie markers to voters — and that ballots marked in Sharpie were