On November 24 2020, Breitbart.com published an article headlined, “Nolte: Only 3% of Trump Voters Believe Joe Biden Is Legitimate Winner,” which began: We all need to keep in mind that, except for a handful of pollsters, polling is irretr
Publication: TruthOrFiction
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘More People Have Died of Suicide This Year Than Corona’
On November 24 2020, a post on Reddit-clone TheDonald.win asserted that in 2020, “more people died of suicide this year than corona,” embedding the following tweet: Part one. pic.twitter.com/q5sNVq21GE — Dr. Ben Tapper (@DrBenTapp
Truth or Fiction?→ Activists Accuse Facebook of Ignoring Warning on Neo-Nazi Groups’ Spread
An activist group combating the proliferation of white supremacist propaganda online accused Facebook in a November 2020 report of failing to act when alerted to the spread of one such network on its platforms in 2018. “Facebook’s leadersh
Truth or Fiction?→ Did a Majority of Americans in a Poll Say Trump Should Concede?
On November 23 2020, social media posts indicated that a then-new poll revealed a majority of Americans believed that U.S. President Donald Trump should concede the election to President-Elect Joe Biden — that majority being 58 percent of all vo
Truth or Fiction?→ How to Fight Disinformation: Introduction and Overview
This is the first of a series about how communities can fight back and protect themselves against weaponized disinformation. In 2015 and 2016, new and paranoid strains of political ideology took social media discourse by storm. The details varied by c
Truth or Fiction?→ Giant Food ‘Super Spread’ Ad
On November 22 2020, a Reddit user shared the following image to r/facepalm, which purported to show a Giant Food “super spread” advertisement: No way this went unnoticed from facepalm The post, which was an image
Truth or Fiction?→ Gov. Andrew Cuomo to Win Emmy for Use of Television to ‘Inform and Calm People Around the World’
On November 20 2020, “Emmy” trended on Twitter due to tweets asserting that New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo was the unlikely recipient of an Emmy award: NOT A JOKE: Andrew Cuomo to Receive International Emmy for ‘Masterful Use’ of T
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Rudy Giuliani Announce That He Tested Positive for ‘Covid 9/11’?
Online mockery of former New York City mayor Rudolph “Rudy” Giuliani continued in late November 2020 with a tweet by a newly-formed parody account that had other users fooled, if only for a moment. The post from “@Rudy_Giuliani_̶
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?→ ‘This Is a Line For a Food Bank in Dallas, Congress Has Decided to Leave Millions of Americans to Suffer and Die’
On November 18 2020, the Gravel Institute (@GravelInstitute) tweeted a photograph purportedly showing cars waiting to get to a food bank in Dallas, Texas: This is a line for a food bank in Dallas. Congress has decided to leave millions of Americans t
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?→ Zuckerberg Doubles Down on Not Banning Steve Bannon in Senate Hearing
Facebook chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg has claimed in testimony to federal lawmakers that far-right broadcaster and Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s recent call for the decapitation of federal officials did not warrant being banned
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?→ Trump’s Disinformation Spree After Losing Election Propelled by Social Media
In the days after a resounding popular vote loss to former United States Vice President Joe Biden, sitting president Donald Trump advanced numerous conspiracy theories before beginning to deny the results of the election outright. The first set of con
Truth or Fiction?→ Trump’s Disinformation Spree After Losing Election Propelled by Social Media
In the days after a resounding popular vote loss to former United States Vice President Joe Biden, sitting president Donald Trump advanced numerous conspiracy theories before beginning to deny the results of the election outright. The first set of con
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?→ Did ICE’s Twitter Account Disappear?
Eagle-eyed Twitter users noted on November 12 2020 that the Twitter account for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (also known as ICE) had abruptly disappeared. While a cached version of the @ICEGov account is still available online, going to th
Truth or Fiction?→ Joe Biden ‘Letter to Staff’ on Family Obligations
On November 7 2020, former Vice President Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election; and on that day, Twitter user Dan Barker (@danbarker) shared a purported memo to Biden’s staff from 2014 concerning their “famil
Truth or Fiction?→ Trump Defeat Denialists Use Facebook to Promote ‘MAGA Marches’
Events and groups denying the defeat of outgoing United States President Donald Trump continue to fester on Facebook in November 2020 — despite the platform taking action following a report by activist group Avaaz. We discovered at least one gro
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?→ Joe Biden, Arrogation, and ‘The Office of the President-Elect’
On November 10 2020, disinformation purveyors began pushing memes containing claims that the transition team for Joe Biden — the winner of the 2020 U.S. presidential elections — invented the “Office of the President-Elect,” and
Truth or Fiction?→ Questions Over ex-GOP Official’s Tweet Leads to Patti LaBelle’s ‘Anti-Feminist’ Relative
A former Republican official’s allegedly misplaced Twitter message on November 10 2020 led to allegations of online chicanery that culminated in the public outing of an “anti-feminist TV critic” purportedly related to legendary singe
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Stop What You’re Doing and Google Why Chainsaws Were Invented’
On November 9 2020, a Facebook post encouraging fellow users to “Google why chainsaws were invented” (archived) went quite viral very quickly; it alluded to the possibility that one might have difficulty guessing the original intended purp
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?→ Are Brazilian Troops Considering ‘Military Intervention’ on Trump’s Behalf?
A right-wing group based out of San Diego State University in California stoked more conspiracy theories around the 2020 U.S. presidential elections on Twitter, claiming that troops and operatives from other governments may get involved on behalf of i
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Mitt Romney Asked To Lead Health And Human Services In Biden Administration: Report’
On November 9 2020, Daily Wire appeared to publish (and then delete) an article headlined, “Mitt Romney Asked To Lead Health And Human Services In Biden Administration: Report”: Mitt Romney Asked To Lead Health And Human Services In Bide
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?→ Were Democrats ‘Handing Out CHEAT SHEETS’ in Michigan (or Missouri)?
As right-wing disinformation and election interference continued amid the 2020 U.S. elections, one person posted a particularly sloppy attempt to gin up controversy by using photographs that didn’t even match their claim. The user claimed on Twi
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?→ ‘Burning 80 Trump Ballots’
As ballots continued to be counted in the U.S. presidential election, a questionable video with the equally questionable claim that someone had set several ballots marked with votes for President Donald Trump on fire suddenly appeared on social media
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