Dubious web sites have used students' purportedly conflicting accounts of a Florida mass shooting to suggest a nefarious conspiracy.
Publication: Fact Check
Snopes→ Is This James Hetfield Standing Near a Bear He Killed?
The Metallica vocalist was falsely identified in a photograph amid 2014 protests over his involvement with a History Channel show.
Snopes→ Did a Huge Shark Wash Up on a North Carolina Beach?
An image purportedly showing a large shark on a Kitty Hawk beach is a composite of at least two different photographs.
Snopes→ Presidential Responses to School Shootings?
A set of images showing President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump in the aftermath of different school shootings are real, but they do not necessarily tell the entire story.
Snopes→ Did Make-a-Wish Apologize for Sending the Wrong Drake to Visit a Terminally Ill Boy?
A parody account tricked Twitter users with a darkly comic video about a fictional mix-up.
Snopes→ Are Third-Graders Raffling Off an AR-15 After the Parkland Shooting?
A youth baseball coach in Missouri said he wanted to make the giveaway "a positive thing."
Snopes→ Does a Viral Video Show Prince George Reciting the Alphabet in Bible Verses?
Despite the clickbait caption, the video comes from East Texas, not Kensington Palace.
Snopes→ What Were the Consequences of Legalizing Weed in Colorado?
A newspaper editorial gets some facts right, and some wrong, in weighing up the consequences of Colorado's legalization of recreational marijuana.
Snopes→ Was Parkland Student Chris Williams Shot While Saving Classmates?
A student did get shot while locking a door during a school shooting -- but his name is not Chris Williams, and he's not the person depicted in a viral Facebook post.
Snopes→ Did a Florida Gun Owner Turn in His AR-57 After the Parkland School Shooting?
Saying "no one without a law enforcement badge needs this rifle," Ben Dickmann surrendered his weapon to the sheriff's office.
Snopes→ Did Dwight Eisenhower Reject the Idea of ‘Soviet-Style’ Military Parades?
A meme intended to undermine Trump's request for a military rally wrongly attributes a quote to Eisenhower.
Snopes→ Was Snopes.com ‘BUSTED’ for Our CEO’s Ties to George Soros?
A meme going around is heavy on propaganda and embarrassingly light on fact.
Snopes→ No School Shootings in the United Kingdom Since Handguns Were Banned?
After a massacre at Dunblane Primary School in 1996, there have been no school shootings in the UK.
Snopes→ Are White People Being Assaulted at Showings of ‘Black Panther’?
Online trolls tried to push claims of violence -- but were quickly foiled by other social media users.
Snopes→ Did Rapper DMX Die?
A prank Facebook post, and old reports about a drug overdose, fueled unfounded rumors about the rapper's demise.
Snopes→ Did ‘The Simpsons’ Predict a Mass Shooting at a ‘Black Panther’ Movie Screening?
Rumors holding that the show 'The Simpsons' predicted that there would be a mass shooting at a screening of the movie "Black Panther" were based on a doctored image.
Snopes→ Was the Florida School Shooter a Registered Democrat?
Rumors that Nikolas Cruz was a registered Democrat were based on the voter registration of a different individual with a similar name and birth year.
Snopes→ Did BuzzFeed Advocate for Taking Away White People’s Guns?
A fake image suggested that Buzzfeed had published a story headlined "Why We Need To Take Away White People's Guns Now, More Than Ever. "
Snopes→ Did the Florida Shooter’s Instagram Profile Picture Feature a ‘MAGA’ Hat?
A photograph purportedly showing Nikolas Cruz in a red "Make America Great Again" hat was taken from his Instagram account.
Snopes→ Was the Suspected Florida High School Shooter Affiliated with the Islamic State?
Despite conspiracy theorist speculation, no evidence supports a link between Nikolas Cruz and Islamic extremism.
Snopes→ Was the FBI Tipped Off About the Parkland Shooter?
A Mississippi YouTube user contacted law enforcement after a disturbing comment appeared on one of his videos.
Snopes→ Did an Australian Archbishop Call Pedophilia a ‘Spiritual Encounter With God’?
Fake news web sites gave a blatantly manufactured account of a statement by Archbishop Denis Hart.
Snopes→ Did Trump Revoke Gun Background Checks for Mentally Ill People?
In February 2017, Trump repealed an Obama-era regulation that would have made it easier to block the sale of firearms to people with certain mental illnesses.
Snopes→ Is This the Florida Shooter in an Antifa Shirt?
In the wake of a school shooting that left 17 people dead in Florida, trolls attempted to stir up division by falsely claiming that the shooter had been photographed wearing a pro-Communist t-shirt.
Snopes→ Is the Florida High School Shooter a ‘Dreamer’?
In the immediate aftermath of a mass shooting on Valentine's Day, social media users began speculating the suspect was undocumented.
Snopes→ Is This an Armed Teacher Protecting Students at an Israeli School?
An image purportedly showing an teacher with a gun slung across her back while watching over students is often shared with misleading claims about security protocols within the country.
Snopes→ Is Tamiflu Causing Increased Deaths from Flu?
Tamiflu is not responsible for the high number of flu season deaths, even if its potential rare side effects are scary.
Snopes→ Did The Flu Shot Cause This Year’s Flu Epidemic?
This claim is based on the incorrect interpretation of single quote from one nurse in Wisconsin who, for the record, recommends getting the shot.
Snopes→ Did a Utah School Bar Girls From Refusing Boys’ Dance Requests?
The rules for Kanesville Elementary's school dance attracted national attention before being "re-examined" by officials.
Snopes→ Did a Former Canadian Official Say the Illuminati Are Real—And Hiding Alien Stuff?
Canada's former minister of defense has long espoused conspiracy theories.
Snopes→ Did a Candy Company Put Out an Edible Pod After the ‘Tide Pod Challenge’ Controversy?
Mars, Incorporated makes a "Pods" product, but these candies were first manufactured more than a decade before the "Tide Pod Challenge" went viral in 2018.
Snopes→ Did Pope Francis Allow a Little Girl to Sit With Him During Mass?
The story is essentially true, but has picked up some embellishment along the way.
Snopes→ Did Migrants Destroy a Car in Italy?
Anti-Muslim blogger Pamela Geller posted an obvious fake and claimed it was an example of "migrant crime" in Europe.
Snopes→ Does Barack Obama’s Official Portrait Contain Secret Images of Sperm?
Far-right pundits went off the deep end after African-American artist Kehinde Wiley's portrait of Barack Obama was unveiled.
Snopes→ Does the White House Want to Turn the International Space Station into a Commercial Venture?
President Donald Trump has proposed entirely privatizing the International Space Station by 2025, though details on how this would occur are murky at best.
Snopes→ Is a Murderous Taxi Driver Killing People in His Cab?
Social media users from Nigeria to New York City accused an unidentified man of being a taxi driver moonlighting as a serial killer.
Snopes→ Did Obama’s Portraitist Paint an Image of a Black Woman Holding the Severed Head of a White Person?
Artist Kehinde Wiley is best known for reimagining classical heroic paintings using black men and women as his subjects.
Snopes→ Did President Donald Trump Block Jennie Willoughby on Twitter?
An account posing as an ex-wife of former White House staff secretary Rob Porter, who resigned amid a domestic violence scandal, made the claim.
Snopes→ Did Mike Pence Defend Rob Porter’s Domestic Abuse with a Bible Verse?
Shortly after a Trump senior aide resigned amid domestic abuse allegations, a false rumor was spread that the Vice President had defended his behavior.
Snopes→ Was a Russian Nuclear Executive Killed in a Plane Crash to Cover Up Clinton Corruption?
Conspiracy theorists falsely linked a deadly Moscow plane crash to Uranium One, a debunked Hillary Clinton "scandal."