On January 14 2020, a Facebook post appeared advising readers to pour a cup of laundry detergent of fabric softener like Downy into their toilet tank, a supposed housecleaning “hack”: Alongside a photograph of a person in yellow glove
Publication: Fact Checks
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Prince Philip is Dead’; Rumor Spreads Like Wildfire
On January 17 2020, rumors Queen Elizabeth II’s husband Prince Philip had died began sweeping Twitter. Commonly, users reported hearing the rumor of Philip’s purported death at work or “on the street”: Work rumour is that P
Truth or Fiction?→ Were Senators Given Protester ‘Assistance’ Cards To Use Against Journalists?
On January 16 2020, as the impeachment trial of United States President Donald Trump was just beginning, a CBS reporter claimed on Twitter that his organization had obtained a flashcard “that was being given to U.S. Senators ahead of the #Impea
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘My Favorite Catholic Lore’ Holy Water Facts Meme
On January 15 2020, a Tumblr screenshot featuring purported facts about holy water (“my favorite Catholic lore”) was shared to Imgur with the title “How to get +1 holy damage”: A multi-party Tumblr exchange began with claims f
Truth or Fiction?→ Is the Equal Rights Amendment Now Law?
Instead of ending a decades-long political battle, the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) by Virginia lawmakers on January 15 2020 likely means the next step in an ongoing legal fight. The state House of Delegates and Senate voted to add
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Virginia Declare a State of Emergency Due to Armed Militias?
On January 15 2020, a number of articles and social media posts mentioned the declaration of a state of emergency in Virginia, purportedly because of armed militias: Virginia Declares State of Emergency After Armed Militias Threaten to Stor
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Bernie Sanders Tell Elizabeth Warren a Woman Couldn’t Win a Presidential Election?
On January 13 2020, CNN published an article with the headline, “Bernie Sanders told Elizabeth Warren in private 2018 meeting that a woman can’t win, sources say.” It began: The stakes were high when Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warr
Truth or Fiction?→ How a Banking Meme Ties Into a Debate Over Calendar Denominations
A long-running debate off and on social media somehow managed to loop a type of beer into a discussion around how to denote the historical timeline in January 2020: The meme, which has spread around Twitter and Facebook, shows a check made out to
Truth or Fiction?→ 2016 ‘Bern the Witch’ Sanders Campaign Event
On January 14 2020, Twitter user @TrinityMustache claimed that the 2016 Bernie Sanders campaign hosted a “Bern the Witch” event attacking then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton: Bernie Sanders had a “Bern the Witch”
Truth or Fiction?→ Does This Photograph Show Syrians Leaving Idlib?
In January 2020, the Syrian region of Idlib — the last rebel bastion in the country — teetered on the verge of further humanitarian disaster as its own government continued airstrikes against the population there. Meanwhile, the Russian government
Truth or Fiction?→ 500,000 Americans Will Go Bankrupt This Year from Medical Bills?
On January 12 2020, the Facebook page “Lower Drug Prices Now” shared what appeared to be a screenshot of a tweet, which claimed that “500,000 Americans will go bankrupt this year” due to medical bills: Claims referencing &#
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Woman Steals Trump Sign, Immediately Regrets It’ Video
On January 13 2020, Facebook user Ryan Fournier of Students for Trump (whose partner and co-founder was later charged with fraud for posing as an attorney) shared a video with the text: “Woman Steals Trump Sign. Immediately Regrets it”:
Truth or Fiction?→ Fake ‘Thailand’s Seven New Provinces’ Post Resurfaces on Social Media in Thailand
An online hoax dating back to at least 2015 about Thailand having seven new provinces continued to spread as recently as January 2020, according to news and fact-checking organization Agence France-Presse. The news service reported that a post pushin
Truth or Fiction?→ Did a Study Find U.S. Healthcare Costs More Than Four Times as Much as Canadian Single-Payer?
On January 8 2020, MSN.com aggregated a Los Angeles Times article, which reported that Americans pay four times as much per capita for health care than Canadians did under their country’s single-payer healthcare program: In the United States, a
Truth or Fiction?→ Donald Trump Says He ‘Saved Pre-Existing Conditions in Your Healthcare’
On January 13 2020, United States President Donald Trump tried to attack a Democratic Party presidential candidate for “false advertising” by repeating a lie of his own. In a tweet attacking former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, Tr
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Vermont Socialist Plans Mayoralty with Bias Toward Poor’ Headline
As the Iowa caucuses edged closer in January 2020, Twitter account @CANCEL_SAM shared a screenshot of a purported 1981 New York Times article ostensibly about Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) bearing the headline, “Vermont Socialist Plans Mayor
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Blue Buffalo Dental Bones Hemorrhagic Gastritis’ Facebook Warning
On January 5 2020, Facebook user Nikki McDonald shared the following post about the brand Blue Buffalo’s Dental Bones product, reporting that her dog Dallas was gravely injured and nearly killed after she gave him the product: In under a week
Truth or Fiction?→ Were an Army Veteran’s Prosthetic Legs ‘Repossessed’ After a VA and Medicare Dispute?
On January 9 2020, an article about Army veteran Jerry Holliman and the repossession of his prosthetic legs after a payment dispute between the VA and Medicare was shared to Reddit’s r/nottheonion, a subreddit for news stories odd enough to soun
Truth or Fiction?→ Does Using Antidepressants Disqualify You from a Military Draft?
After a January 3 2020 United States-led strike killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Suleimani in Baghdad, Iraq, speculation flew about impending war, eventually turning into rumors about an American military draft. On the day Suleimani was killed, news o
Truth or Fiction?→ December 7 1943: 56,082 People in Auschwitz; December 7 2019: 69,550 Children in Border Camps?
A December 8 2019 Facebook post purportedly contrasting the number of people in Auschwitz on December 7 1943 (56,082) with the number of children (not adults, 69,550) detained at border camps on the same date in 2019 circulated in copy-and-paste form
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Say NO to Piercing Guns’ Viral Facebook Post
On December 29 2019, Facebook user Stephanie Lipscy shared the following post beginning with “say NO to piercing guns,” alongside an illustration of an ear being pierced: Lipscy said that the use of ear piercing guns caused “a blun
Truth or Fiction?→ Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar Pushes Digitally Altered Image of Obama with Iranian Leader
A Republican lawmaker who once inspired his family to record a statement urging constituents to vote against him and who embedded a weaponized Jeffrey Epstein meme in impeachment tweets lashed out at reporters on January 6 2020 after posting a regurgi
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Don’t Abbreviate 2020’ Warning
Beginning in early 2020, many people on social media have likely encountered a “legal warning” advising they not abbreviate the date in a month/day/year (or day/month/year) format in 2020, thanks to the purported ability of all and sundry
Truth or Fiction?→ Iranians, Iranian-Americans Stopped at U.S. Border with Canada
United States Customs and Border Patrol subjected both Iranians and Iranian-Americans to more scrutiny in January 2020 in the wake of new orders from the Department of Homeland Security, although CBP quibbled over accounts of people stopped for hours
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Missing’ Hiker Emoji Mandela Effect
Among memories considered part of the “Mandela effect” — a term for a shared false memory that stems from a collective, completely false understanding that Nelson Mandela died in prison in the 1980s — is a mass recollection of a sinc
Truth or Fiction?→ Aboriginal Flag on the Right, Australia Burning on the Left
On January 2 2019, Facebook user Benita Tahuri shared the following two images and a post — on the left, the Australian Aboriginal flag, and on the right, a photograph of the “sun and skyscape … as a consequence of the fires”:
Truth or Fiction?→ Fake Fox News Twitter Smears Rep. Ilhan Omar
A short-lived Twitter account impersonating the right-wing Fox News network managed to draw attention to itself on January 5 2020 through the familiar tactic of a made-up smear against Democratic Party Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. The account, “
Truth or Fiction?→ Best Buy ‘Y2K’ Sticker
If you were using social media on December 31 2019, chances are a Best Buy “Y2K warning” sticker crossed one of your feeds — it looked something like this: Although some versions were digital renderings, others like the one above showed
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘I Did Not Take This Photo and I Don’t Know Who Did’ Australian Community Firefighters Image
In the midst of late December 2019 and early January 2020 fires raging across the Australian continent, the following screenshot showing exhausted, soot-blackened firefighters circulated on Facebook: The photograph, which was apparently captured fr
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Weird Twitter’ Account Spreads Video Distorting Joe Biden Campaign Speech
On January 1 2020, a Twitter user attempting to lobby criticism on Democratic Party presidential candidate Joe Biden went a step further than a critique by posting a video that had been edited to remove context from one of his campaign speeches. The a
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Blue Eyes Are Haram’ Disinformation
On January 1 2020, disinformation purveyors all across the internet suddenly pivoted in unison to pushing the same disinformation that has muddied English-speaking social media since at least 2015, down to the same claims, the same recycled stories, a
Truth or Fiction?→ Are Drive-Thru Convenience Stores Only Located in Ohio?
A Facebook user’s popular post in November 2019 expressed surprise over the existence of drive-thru convenience stores, but their popularity and their existence itself date back decades. The post (which has been spread more than 10,000 times on
Truth or Fiction?→ Detainee Trying to Feed Her Baby or ‘The Nativity 2019’?
On December 24 2019, a photograph shared to Twitter circulated with the claim that it showed “a detainee trying to feed her baby,” heavily implying that the image showed victims of the Trump administration’s family separation policy
Truth or Fiction?→ Was Paul Rudd the Same Age as Wilford Brimley in ‘Cocoon’ as of December 2019?
On December 30 2019, the Twitter account @BrimleyLine tweeted that actor Paul Rudd was, as of that date, 18,530 days old — exactly as old as actor Wilford Brimley when he starred in the film Cocoon: Born April 6, 1969, actor Paul Rudd ('Cluel
Truth or Fiction?→ Was Trump Not Really Impeached?
United States President Donald Trump and his Republican Party allies could seize on an op-ed by a Harvard University law professor in order to change the definition of impeachment to suit his purposes. The House of Representatives voted on December 18
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Donald Trump’s Letter to Nancy Pelosi Secretly Display ‘F*** You, C***’?
A purported copy of United States President Donald Trump’s December 20 2019 letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared on Reddit’s r/therewasanattempt one day later, with a big red markup around a hidden message reading “Fuck you,
Truth or Fiction?→ Aldi ‘Free Food on Christmas Eve’ Facebook Post
A December 12 2019 MSN.com post with the headline “Aldi issues plea for vulnerable people to come and collect free food on Christmas Eve” was making the Facebook rounds as Christmas Eve 2019 approached, with innumerable shares appearing in
Truth or Fiction?→ Is This a Photograph of the Chernobyl ‘Elephant’s Foot’?
Even before a show based on the Chernobyl disaster renewed interest both on and off social media, one of the most vivid online reminders of the April 1986 nuclear reactor meltdown continued to circulate online. A Facebook post that was shared more tha
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Do You Know What’s Deplorable? Being Impeached’ Tweet
On December 18 2019, United States President Donald Trump was impeached on two counts by the House of Representatives; that night and the following day, screenshots and quotations of a tweet purportedly from his son Donald Trump Jr. to then-presidenti
Truth or Fiction?→ Did J.K. Rowling ‘Confirm Her Stance Against Transgender Women’?
Rumors that author J.K. Rowling (of the popular Harry Potter series) was a trans-exclusionary feminist circulated for years due to her comments and behavior on Twitter, culminating in a viral June 2019 Medium piece by Phalen Fairchild titled, “