Fifteen months after the January 6 2021 Capitol insurrection, news that defense lawyer Johnathon Moseley was disbarred in April 2022 began spreading on social media platforms: Court orders Jan. 6 defense lawyer disbarred from politics
Publication: TruthOrFiction
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Lithuania Has Imposed an Inexpensive Sanction on Russia,’ Ukrainian Heroes Street
On April 5 2022, a screenshot of a Facebook post circulated on various platforms, claiming that Lithuania had imposed “an inexpensive sanction on Russia” by renaming a road the “Street of Ukrainian Heroes”: Although the screens
Truth or Fiction?→ DirecTV Drops One America News Network From its Lineup
On April 5 2022, an Imgur user shared a post saying, “DirecTv dropped OAN today!” — alongside an image of OAN’s logo. On Twitter, several prominent accounts made similar claims: OAN has officially been booted from DirecTV’s
Truth or Fiction?→ Tennessee Marriage Bill
On April 5 2022, an Imgur user shared a screenshot of a tweet from Occupy Democrats, which claimed that Tennessee Republicans had introduced a bill eliminating any age requirement for marriage: BREAKING: Tennessee Republicans introduce a bill that
Truth or Fiction?→ Satellite Images Disprove Kremlin’s Claims That Bucha Massacre Was ‘Staged’
On April 3 2022, photographs appearing to show a massacre by invading Russian forces in the Ukrainian city of Bucha spread globally — and Russian state media claimed that the mass deaths were “staged.” On that date, Russian state medi
Truth or Fiction?→ Do Hermit Crabs Line Up to Exchange Shells?
On April 2 2022, Twitter user @cottoncandaddy stated they just learned “hermit crabs who need new shells” will “gather … and trade shells”: I just learned that if a hermit crab finds a new shell that is too big it will w
Truth or Fiction?→ Anti-Tiktok PR Campaign Shows More Right-Wing Ties for Facebook
The relationship between Facebook and a public relations firm that promotes right-wing lawmakers — including some who voted against the certification of Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election — was brought to light amid o
Truth or Fiction?→ Insulin Cap Vote Results
On April 1 2022, several popular Imgur posts covered an insulin cap vote in the House of Representatives, with the primary assertion that the votes to make the lifesaving medication affordable fell along party lines: Pure evil: 193 House Republicans
Truth or Fiction?→ Paper: Sweden and the ‘Herd Immunity’ Response to COVID-19
An academic paper attempting to make sense of Sweden’s COVID-19 “herd immunity” policy describes a cavalcade of preventable horrors. The article (which was published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications) was – in its own w
Truth or Fiction?→ Virginia Thomas Embraced Conspiracy Theories Long Before ‘Big Lie’ Texts Came to Light
Long before she was revealed to have been pushing for the overturning of the 2020 presidential election, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas — the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas — trafficked in conspiracy theories in disinfor
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Words Are Energy And Cast Spells’ Bruce Lee Meme
A March 22 2022 quote meme that claimed Bruce Lee once said “words are energy” and “that’s why it’s called spelling” was shared by the page “Anxiety Freedom Today” on Facebook: Underneath a black-and-wh
Truth or Fiction?→ The Fairness Doctrine and Ronald Reagan
On March 28 2022, an Imgur user shared a meme (“The Father of Fake News”) about President Ronald Reagan, the Fairness Doctrine, and the Federal Communications Commission’s purported role in the rise of partisan “news”: Te
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘1970 and 2022 Are as Far Apart as 1970 and 1918 … I’m Just Going to Need a Minute’
In early 2022, social media posts claiming “1970 and 2022 are as far apart as 1970 and 1918” circulated on Facebook and Twitter. Typically, the posts appeared as status update images, and variations read: “I was just reminded that 197
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘NASA Has Outdone Themselves, This Is an Image of the Entire Observable Universe’
On March 19 2022, a Facebook user shared what looked like a cropped Twitter screenshot, depicting a purported NASA image of the “entire observable universe”: Text on the “night mode” screenshot read: NASA has outdone themselves
Truth or Fiction?→ Applebee’s Gas Prices Email
On March 23 2022, Twitter user Rob Gill (@vote4robgill) shared images of a purported internal Applebee’s “gas prices” email — which included commentary about a spike in gas prices enabling Applebee’s management to sharply
Truth or Fiction?→ Pembroke Pines ‘Don’t Say Gay’ School Walkout
On March 22 2022, Twitter user @diabeyonce shared a purported video showing high school students conducting a protest walkout against Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill: i am in full blown tears dude pic.twitter.com
Truth or Fiction?→ Hugh Thompson and the My Lai Massacre
In mid-March 2022, posts about a warrant officer named Hugh Thompson and his role in the My Lai massacre circulated on social media, including a tweet describing that time period as the 50-year anniversary of that incident: Today is the 50th annivers
Truth or Fiction?→ Did a GOP Senator Say the Supreme Court Shouldn’t Have ‘Weighed In’ on Interracial Marriage?
Right-wing Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana (R) quickly backtracked on March 22 2022 after offering interracial marriage as an example of issues that the Supreme Court, in his opinion, should leave up for individual states to decide. Braun made the remark to
Truth or Fiction?→ Home Depot ‘Privilege’ Document
On March 22 2022, the Twitter account @libsoftiktok shared a purported Home Depot “privilege” worksheet, assumed by readers to be an internal training document for employees of the home improvement chain: Home Depot has gone woke pic.twit
Truth or Fiction?→ Netflix ‘Love is Sharing a Password’ Tweet
On March 22 2022, a purported Twitter screenshot was shared on Imgur and elsewhere, quoting a tweet by Netflix — “Love is sharing a password”: The post was titled “Keeping this here for when they eventually delete their tweet
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Credit Bureaus to Strip 70% of Unpaid Medical Debt’
On March 18 2022, a “big if true” CNBC headline suggesting that credit bureaus were planning to remove medical debts from consumer credit reports made the rounds on social media: US Credit Bureaus to strip 70% of unpaid medical d
Truth or Fiction?→ Holocaust Survivor Boris Romantschenko Killed in Russian Attack on Ukraine
On March 21 2022, popular posts on Imgur and elsewhere referenced the death of 96-year-old Boris Romantschenko, a Holocaust survivor, in Charkiv, Ukraine: KZ Survivor Boris Romantschenko was killed in Charkiw In the above post (“KZ Survivor B
Truth or Fiction?→ June 2008 Gas Prices
On March 14 2022, Twitter user Qasim Rashid tweeted about purported oil and gas prices in June 2008, in contrast with their prices in March 2022: Oil & Avg Gas $ June 2008:•Oil: $181.58/barrel•Gas: $4.10/gallon Oil & Avg Gas $ Mar 2022:
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Russia Reportedly Asked North Korea for Help with Its Failing Invasion,’ North Korea Said Russia Was ‘Too Insane for Us’
On March 16 2022, an Imgur screenshot of a tweet by @XSovietNews suggested that a British tabloid (specifically, The Mirror) wrote an entire news story about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine based solely on a single satirical post to social media:
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Mark Twain Say ‘The Truth Has No Defense Against a Fool Determined to Believe a Lie’?
On March 15 2022, an Imgur user shared a quote meme suggesting that American author Mark Twain once said that “the truth has no defense against a fool determined to believe a lie”: On the meme, an illustration of Twain was accompanied by
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘An Octopus Walking On The Beach … 🐙’
On March 15 2022, the account @UberFacts shared purported video of an “octopus walking on the beach” on Twitter, but with certain odd details. For example, the octopus appeared to have nine tentacles. A search quickly indicated that the
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Soviet Flags in Texas’ Meme
On March 14 2022, an Imgur account shared the following meme, which purportedly showed “Texans” flying Soviet flags — in ostensible support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: Titled “Deplorable,” the post showed five
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Ukrainian Refugee Kids Arrive in Italy … You Won’t Believe What the Italian Kids Did Next’
On March 14 2022, Twitter user @BenPhillips76 shared a purported video of Ukrainian refugee children on their first day of school in Naples, Italy: Ukrainian refugee kids arrive in Italy, and start at local schools. On their first day they enter ner
Truth or Fiction?→ Missouri ‘Ectopic Pregnancy’ Bill
On March 10 2022, Imgur and Twitter users shared a viral tweet concerning an abortion bill in Missouri’s ectopic pregnancy provision — purportedly making any life-saving treatment of the complication “illegal”: NEW A bill in
Truth or Fiction?→ Chabad Emissaries’ Shabbat Evacuation Effort
On March 6 2022, several popular Facebook posts shared an image and story about how Ukrainian-speaking Chabad emissaries spent Shabbat making phone calls to urge Ukrainian Jews to evacuate; a version of the post was broken up into several tweets on th
Truth or Fiction?→ VP Kamala Harris ‘Laughing at Refugees’
On March 10 2022, far-right blogger and serial plagiarist Benny Johnson claimed that “[only] Kamala Harris would find it appropriate to laugh when talking about the topic of Ukrainian Refugees,” attaching a purportedly illustrative video c
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘This is Not a Renaissance Painting, This is a Picture Someone in Poland Took of the Window of a Train from Lviv’
On March 9 2022, an Imgur user shared a screenshot of a tweet, which contained a photograph with remarkably artistic qualities: This is not a renaissance painting. This is a picture someone in Poland took of the window of a train from Lviv… pic
Truth or Fiction?→ $6.09 Gas Prices in California Meme
Amid ongoing discourse about rising gas prices in the United States on March 9 2022, an Imgur post purportedly showed a photo of a gas station displaying prices of $6.09 a gallon for regular, $6.23 for “plus,” and $6.29 for “supreme&#
Truth or Fiction?→ St. Jude Ukrainian Translators Request
On March 8 2022, an Imgur user posted a Facebook screenshot claiming that children’s hospital St. Jude sought Ukrainian translators to aid in efforts to treat children evacuated from Ukraine: It wasn’t clear when the post was shared to Fac
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Ukraine Looters Taped to Poles’
On March 7 2022, a screenshot of the following reply tweet purportedly depicting a Russian soldier caught looting in Ukraine appeared on Imgur and elsewhere: My favorite….this Russian soldier was marking buildings for rocket hits…and was doing a
Truth or Fiction?→ Kharkiv Railway Station Image
Amid an ongoing attack on Ukraine by Russian forces, Imgur posts on March 6 and March 7 2022 purportedly showed photographs of a crowded railway station in Kharkiv, Ukraine, illustrating residents’ attempts to flee to safety: “Photo of Kha
Truth or Fiction?→ Russia Purportedly Planned ‘Public Executions’ in Ukraine
In early March 2022, as wild rumors, lies, half-truths, and weaponized disinformation campaigns lit up social media amid Russia’s war against Ukraine, posts began to appear referencing leaked Russian plans for “public executions” the
Truth or Fiction?→ Republican Candidate Booed by University of North Texas Students
On March 3 2022, a video apparently showing Texas House candidate Jeff Younger (R) getting booed by a university classroom full of students spread virally on Twitter: Anti-trans Texas House candidate Jeff Younger came to the University of North Texas
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Flooding in Australia Cause a Quad Bike to Get Stuck on a Power Line?
A photograph showing one of the milder effects of fatal flooding in eastern Australia spread online in March 2022, but despite (reasonable) skepticism, it is legitimate. The photograph was first posted by the power company Energex on February 28 2022 a
Truth or Fiction?→ Putin ‘Stripped of Black Belt’
On March 2 2022, two Imgur posts claimed Russia’s president Vladimir Putin was “stripped of his black belt”; one of the two posts was an Instagram screenshot, the other depicting a February 28 2022 post on Reddit’s r/worldnews: