Factually is a newsletter about fact-checking and misinformation from Poynter’s International Fact-Checking Network. Sign up here to receive it in your email every Thursday. Birds of a feather Twitter announced Monday it would begin working with two
Publication: fact checking
Poynter→ Fauci did not say there was a COVID-19 variant that can evade detection
With the United States in the midst of a COVID-19 surge driven by the delta variant, a post on Facebook claims that the nation’s top infectious disease expert said that a coronavirus variant can evade detection. The Aug. 1 post looks like a screensh
Poynter→ What’s happening with the federal eviction moratorium and rental assistance?
The eviction moratorium that gave millions of households a cushion as the pandemic upended their lives expired July 31. Now top Democrats are at odds over how to get it started again. President Joe Biden said neither the White House nor the Centers for
Poynter→ George Washington mandated Revolutionary War troops be inoculated against smallpox
President Joe Biden recently said he asked the Defense Department to explore “how and when they will add COVID-19 to the list of vaccinations our armed forces must get, drawing the criticism of people opposed to vaccine mandates. But those crit
Poynter→ CDC test can’t differentiate between COVID and the flu? That’s wrong.
Posts circulating on Facebook and Instagram claim the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will stop using its COVID-19 test because it cannot differentiate between the COVID virus and flu viruses. “CDC has just announced they will revoke t
Poynter→ When will the COVID-19 vaccines get full FDA approval?
When will the COVID-19 vaccines get full Food and Drug Administration approval? That’s a question on a lot of minds as the daily number of COVID-19 cases rise across the U.S., driven by a more contagious mutation of the coronavirus. More public and p
Poynter→ Let’s review some falsehoods about masks
Factually is a newsletter about fact-checking and misinformation from Poynter’s International Fact-Checking Network. Sign up here to receive it on your email every Thursday. Masked mania The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its
Poynter→ How some mysterious mutations make delta the most transmissible COVID virus yet
Upon first inspection, the mutations in the highly contagious delta COVID-19 variant don’t look that worrisome. For starters, delta has fewer genetic changes than earlier versions of the coronavirus. “When people saw that the epidemic in India
Poynter→ An Olympics hot mic video allegedly of an NBC producer isn’t real — it’s a joke
A spoof video shared on a comedian’s Twitter page has journeyed from joke to scandal as some people sharing and seeing it online appear to believe it’s authentic. It’s not. But here’s the premise: an NBC producer is caught on a hot mic saying:
Poynter→ Fact checks of 10 prominent types of misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines
Since the coronavirus pandemic erupted last year, PolitiFact has fact-checked hundreds of misleading statements about the development, deployment, content, safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines. Even as the U.S. sees a rise in cases among unv
Poynter→ Marjorie Taylor Greene says HIPAA shields her from vaccination questions. It doesn’t.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., has been an outspoken critic of vaccines and masks to stop the spread of COVID-19. After she tweeted that the disease was a threat only to people who are obese or over 65 — very inaccurate medical guidance — Twit
Poynter→ President Biden exaggerated the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines during a CNN town hall
President Joe Biden exaggerated when he spoke about the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine during a CNN town hall. “You’re not going to get COVID if you have these vaccinations,” Biden said. It is rare for people who are fully vac
Poynter→ The argument over content moderation is ‘missing context’
Factually is a newsletter about fact-checking and misinformation from Poynter’s International Fact-Checking Network. Sign up here to receive it on your email every Thursday. A lackluster debate President Joe Biden and Facebook’s tête-à-tête over
Poynter→ Tomi Lahren misrepresents COVID-19 survival chances for those with and without a vaccine
Is a person’s chance of surviving COVID-19 the same, vaccinated or not? “Unvaccinated, you can get COVID and have over 99% chance of survival,” conservative commentator Tomi Lahren said on Facebook, where she has 4.8 million followers. &#
Poynter→ Tucker Carlson spins a web of misleading claims as he alleges ‘meaningful voter fraud’ in Georgia
Fox News host Tucker Carlson promoted a number of false, misleading and unsubstantiated claims about election fraud in Georgia in a recent segment on his cable news program. “It now appears there actually was meaningful voter fraud in Fulton Coun
Poynter→ Trump’s claim about Arizona mail-in ballots is based on a misunderstanding of early voting
Persisting in the quest to dispute his loss in the 2020 presidential election, former President Donald Trump claimed that tens of thousands of mail-in ballots in Maricopa County, Arizona, were improperly counted without a record of them having been sen
Poynter→ Are state legislators really seeking power to overrule voters?
In a speech on voting rights in Philadelphia, President Joe Biden vowed that his administration would fight back against new voting restrictions pushed by allies of former President Donald Trump. State legislators are now engaged in a “broad as
Poynter→ Suspended from social media, Donald Trump has found a new, old way to spread falsehoods
Donald Trump’s social media posts in the aftermath of the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol got him suspended from Facebook and Twitter amid concerns that his false claims about a stolen election would provoke more violence. His Fac
Truth or Fiction?→ Facebook’s Reshuffling of Data Tool Worries Researchers and Collaborators
A New York Times column on Facebook’s actions against the data analysis tool CrowdTangle prompted concern from both independent researchers and at least one group collaborating with the platform. According to Kevin Roose, a tech columnist for the
Poynter→ Here are Twitter’s most prolific citizen fact-checkers
Factually is a newsletter about fact-checking and misinformation from Poynter’s International Fact-Checking Network. Sign up here to receive it on your email every Thursday. Watchers on your wall Ryan, a college student without a journalism backgroun
Poynter→ Trump said there were ‘no guns whatsoever’ at the Capital riot. But some defendants were armed, documents show.
President Donald Trump claimed on Fox News that there were no guns in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. During an on-air conversation with Trump on July 11, “Sunday Morning Futures” host Maria Bartiromo twice broached
Poynter→ CNN did not report that President Biden authorized U.S. intervention in Haiti after assassination
An image of what looks like a screenshot of a CNN news story is being shared on social media with this headline: “Haiti President Jovenel Moïse assassinated in attack on his residence. U.S Troops on their way.” The image makes it look li
Poynter→ IFCN launches working group to address harassment against fact-checkers
The International Fact-Checking Network, a global coalition of fact-checkers, has been monitoring the increasing number of harassment cases against its more than 120 verified signatory organizations operating in 62 countries. Incidents of harassment, r
Poynter→ Tucker Carlson distorts Texas’ smart thermostat energy conservation programs
Summertime temperatures rose into the high 90s last month across Texas. It wasn’t an unusual heat for Texas in mid-June, but it did trigger the state’s grid operator to issue energy conservation alerts. The alerts issued by the Electric Relia
Poynter→ Social media post misrepresents preliminary data on miscarriages and COVID-19 vaccines
The findings of a preliminary paper that evaluated how pregnant women were faring months after receiving an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine are being misrepresented online. Alarming posts, like one shared on Instagram on July 6, state that 82% of women who got
Poynter→ No, Facebook isn’t kicking people out for supporting the NRA
An old claim about Facebook banning users who support the National Rifle Association is again gaining traction on social media, but there’s still no evidence of this. “Well Facebook said that if you support the NRA you will get kicked off,̶
Poynter→ Trump et al. are misinformed about fact-checking and the Constitution
Factually is a newsletter about fact-checking and misinformation from Poynter’s International Fact-Checking Network. Sign up here to receive it on your email every Thursday. Who can do what Former U.S. President Donald Trump is suing Facebook, Twitte
Poynter→ What you need to know about the coronavirus variants
If you’ve been paying attention to recent news reports about the coronavirus pandemic, you’ve probably heard public health officials say they’re pleased about the dropping rates of cases and deaths due to vaccination in the United States — but
Poynter→ Nigeria banned Twitter one month ago. Here’s how it’s impacting fact-checkers
A month into Nigeria’s Twitter ban, fact-checkers aren’t seeing a feared drop off in the size of their audience, but are seeing restrictions on the reach of some of their content. Kemi Busari, editor of the Nigerian fact-checking outlet Dubawa, sai
Poynter→ Several states have deployed police to the southern border. What is their role?
It started with a plea from the Republican governors of Texas and Arizona. “We respectfully but urgently request that you send all available law enforcement resources to the border in defense of our sovereignty and territorial integrity,” G
Poynter→ The Make-A-Wish Foundation isn’t granting wishes only to vaccinated children
Since its founding in 1980, the Make-A-Wish Foundation has granted over 315,000 wishes for children with critical illnesses. Amid lockdown orders and travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of those wishes had to be delayed. Now, as
Poynter→ A Facebook post showing a photo of Mike Tyson with an anti-vaccine T-shirt is fake
A Facebook post showing a photo of former heavyweight boxing champ Mike Tyson apparently sending an anti-jab message is actually a feint. In the photo, Tyson’s T-shirt has an image of a syringe crossed out. The text around it says, “Trust In G
Poynter→ Anti-vax claims center on the laws of attraction
Factually is a newsletter about fact-checking and misinformation from Poynter’s International Fact-Checking Network. Sign up here to receive it on your email every Thursday. Magnetic Personalities 3,190 fact checks were added to the CoronavirusFacts
Poynter→ The CDC did not say more young people are hospitalized from the vaccine than COVID-19 itself
An Instagram post wrongly claimed that the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said more young people are hospitalized as a result of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine than from the disease itself. The post features a screenshot of a headline
Poynter→ In an attack on Bill Barr, Trump repeats a favorite falsehood about the 2020 election
In an excerpt for his upcoming book, ABC reporter Jonathan Karl recounts interviewing Bill Barr, the U.S. attorney general who fell out of favor with former President Donald Trump. Before the election, Barr echoed Trump’s falsehood that voting by m
Poynter→ Scientists developing mRNA vaccines before the outbreak isn’t evidence the COVID-19 pandemic was created
Alarmist articles are circulating online claiming that newly revealed “secret documents” show that the U.S. government had coronavirus vaccine candidates from Moderna in development weeks before the COVID-19 outbreak, and thus proves that t
Poynter→ Joe Biden gets history wrong on the Second Amendment limiting gun ownership
President Joe Biden’s plan to curb rising violence relies on several steps: more aid to local police departments, expanding job programs for young adults, more violence intervention programs, and tougher measures to shut down gun sellers who break fe
Poynter→ The WHO did not reverse its position on kids getting COVID-19 vaccines
A social media post on Instagram claims that the World Health Organization recently flipped its policy recommendation about children receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. “The WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION recently reversed its stance on children getting the
Poynter→ Fact-checkers use automation to maximize their impact
Factually is a newsletter about fact-checking and misinformation from Poynter’s International Fact-Checking Network. Sign up here to receive it on your email every Thursday. The bots are back in town Wednesday’s IFCN Talk highlighted the work of th
Poynter→ Despite popular misconception, Supreme Court 9-0 rulings aren’t that rare
In one of the final decisions of its current term, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled against the National Collegiate Athletic Association in a closely watched case, concluding that the NCAA could not prevent certain payments to college athletes, thus