On September 1 2020, a Facebook user shared the following screenshot, along with a post claiming that California’s governor, Gavin Newsom (D), had quietly changed all of California voters’ preference to vote by mail, so that anyone plannin
Publication: TruthOrFiction
Truth or Fiction?→ Did California Gov. Newsom Change All Voters’ Preference to Vote by Mail — So All In-Person Voters Will Be Turned Away?
On September 1 2020, a Facebook user shared the following screenshot, along with a post claiming that California’s governor, Gavin Newsom (D), had quietly changed all of California voters’ preference to vote by mail, so that anyone plannin
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Yesterday, 4 Canadians Died of COVID, 7 Italians, 9 Germans, and 1,263 Americans’
On August 20 2020, a Facebook user shared the following post, which purportedly shows the number of deaths due to COVID-19 in Canada, Italy, Germany, and the United States during a single day (“yesterday”): White text against a purple b
Truth or Fiction?→ Is This a Chinese ‘Luckiest Birthday’ List?
In August 2020, a nearly year-old post purportedly ranking what Chinese people believe are the “luckiest birthdays” circulated on Facebook: Facebook provided a slightly baffling automatic translation: Chinese made a list of the l
Truth or Fiction?→ Did an Autopsy Reveal That Joseph Rosenbaum Was Shot in the Back Multiple Times?
On August 28 2020, a Facebook user shared the following post about 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, charged with shooting and killing two protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin: It read: BREAKING: Autopsy reveals that Kyle Rittenhouse’s first victim was s
Truth or Fiction?→ Was ‘a Mob’ Trying to Break into the Mayor of Kenosha’s Home?
The mayor of Kenosha, Wisconsin rebuffed a lie from United States President Donald Trump on September 1 2020 — after Trump called him “foolish” prior to visiting the city against the wishes of both local and state leadership. The pre
Truth or Fiction?→ Tinkerbell ‘Dotting the I’ Mandela Effect
In late August and early September 2020, discussion of Tinkerbell “dotting the i” in Disney’s animated logo became a hot topic on social media, with one apparently-removed Facebook post racking up a six-figure share count: On Faceboo
Truth or Fiction?→ Were 94 Percent of COVID-19 Deaths Caused by ‘Underlying Conditions’?
A false interpretation of new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) spread online in late August 2020, buoyed by both social media and various local television news outlets. The result was a slew of posts and stories pushing t
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘How is Finding 39 Missing Children in a Double Wide Trailer in Georgia NOT the Biggest News Story in America?’
An August 28 2020 Facebook post claiming authorities in Georgia found 39 missing children in a double wide trailer in Georgia went massively viral, apparently by pondering why it was not the biggest story in the United States: That post racked up
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Jeepers Creepers Rises Every 23 Years and Last Woke Up in 1997’
On August 29 2020, the Facebook page “90’s Kids Only” shared the following post concerning the film Jeepers Creepers — and purported film lore that holds its monster “rose every 23 years,” most recently in 1997:
Truth or Fiction?→ Facebook Blames Lack of Training For Spread of Kenosha ‘Militia’ Gang Content
As content praising the suspect in a double homicide committed during a protest against police brutality in Kenosha, Wisconsin continued to proliferate on Facebook, the social media platform’s executive officer, Mark Zuckerberg, blamed a lack of
Truth or Fiction?→ Did an RNC Speaker Say Her Biracial Son ‘Might Grow Up to be a Large Intimidating Brown Man,’ and Her ‘Biological Kids’ to be ‘White and Nerdy’?
On August 26 2020, the Facebook page “This American Carnage” shared the following meme, which purportedly shows a quote from Republican National Convention (RNC) speaker Abby Johnson on her biracial son growing up as a “large, intimi
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Deputy Rittenhouse’ and the Kenosha Sheriff’s Department
On August 27 2020, amid algorithmically-charged discourse about teenaged shooting suspect Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin, rumors on Facebook and Twitter appeared with claims that Rittenhouse’s father was “Deputy Rittenhouse”
Truth or Fiction?→ The August 27 TikTok Meme, Explained
In the summer of 2020, nebulous rumors circulated about August 27 on TikTok — and much of the chatter involved social media users‘ befuddlement, particularly with respect to the date and the platform: tomorrow is august 27 and tiktok sti
Truth or Fiction?→ Two Killed in Kenosha During Racial Violence Inflamed in Facebook Groups
As racial violence escalated and echoed throughout the United States during the summer of 2020 and “civil defense” groups formed on Facebook and appeared at demonstrations throughout the country, a gunman shot and killed two people during
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Someone Organize an Online Fundraiser for the Kenosha Murder Suspect?
Not long after his identity was revealed, the seventeen-year-old Illinois teen accused of committing a double murder in Kenosha, Wisconsin was the intended beneficiary of an online fundraiser in his name. The fundraiser raised $705 on GoFundMe before
Truth or Fiction?→ Victoria’s Secret Bra ‘Tracking Devices’
In late June 2020, a Facebook user shared a video that purportedly showed Victoria’s Secret bras’ tracking devices: In a status update, an account named “Jimm Walker” wrote: THIS IS UNREAL SO Summer 2020 Facebook Posts Abou
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘You do NOT DIVIDE the deaths into the total population. EVER! NEVER!’
A popular Facebook post in August 2020 was not alone in taking issue with one estimate concerning the COVID-19 virus’ mortality rate, but might also mislead readers looking for an easy answer. The post, first published on August 20, 2020 and sha
Truth or Fiction?→ Frida Kahlo ‘If I Have to Say It … I Do Not Want It Anymore’
On August 22 2020, the Facebook page “She Is Fire” attributed the following poem — often titled “If I Have to Say It” — to artist Frida Kahlo: What became a text-only post read: Frida Kahlo to her husband…
Truth or Fiction?→ NBC News Article About Usain Bolt Testing Positive for Coronavirus Displays Photograph of Kevin Hart
On August 25 2020, images of a NBC News article began circulating showing the headline, “Usain Bolt, the fastest man alive, tests positive for coronavirus” and displaying a photograph not of Bolt, but showing comedian Kevin Hart: Pretty
Truth or Fiction?→ Is ‘Brisket’ Among HEB Hurricane Supplies?
On August 23 2020, a popular screenshot of grocery chain H-E-B‘s “hurricane supplies” appeared to show a limit on brisket items — the only product specifically named other than water: In the screenshot of an apparent KPRC b
Truth or Fiction?→ Are 85 Percent of White People Killed by Other White People, Even Though We Never Hear About ‘White on White Crime’?
On August 23 2020, amid global Black Lives Matter demonstrations, the following meme appeared on Facebook with the claim that 85 percent of white people are killed by other white people — and yet, no one ever talks about “white on white c
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘A Pound of Flesh’: Facebook’s Provides Little Explanation for Anti-Fascist Takedown
Even as it claimed to have done so to guard against accounts promoting violent, Facebook has refused to provide evidence behind the elimination of pages belonging to two news organizations that post anti-fascist content. The platform removed Facebook
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Ben Shapiro Tweet That He and His Wife Know There Are More Important Things in Marriage Than ‘Sexual Satisfaction’?
On August 21 2020, a tweet attributed to right-wing pundit Ben Shapiro appeared: The purported tweet, which spread in screenshot form, said: You know how much this endless parade of jokes about me and my wife bothers me? Not one bit. My wife and I b
Truth or Fiction?→ Was There a Potential COVID-19 Outbreak at a Las Vegas Strip Club?
A typically-false post from the “satirical” blog World News Daily Report (WNDR) got a bigger boost than usual online after being shared by an entrepreneur. The post delivered a characteristically lurid “story” about a COVID-19
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Dems Strike ‘Under God’ from the Pledge of Allegiance at the 2020 DNC?
On August 19 2020, a screenshot of a Fox News chyron asserting that Democrats had removed “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance began circulating on social media: We encountered the Fox News chyron in image-only form; it read: DEMS ST
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Snow, Rain, Heat, Night, Fascism … Absolutely Baller Content from the American Postal Workers Union’
Amid the United States Postal Service’s slowdowns on August 13 2020, Twitter user Charlie Bonner shared the following “baller content” attributed to the American Postal Workers Union: absolutely baller content from the postal worke
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ‘Ignore’ Joe Biden During Her DNC Appearance?
NBC News attracted criticism for its coverage of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) on August 18 2020, after the network posted a tweet that misrepresented Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s appearance on the event. The New York congresswoman
Truth or Fiction?→ Do Images Show Joe Biden and Kamala Harris Announcing Their Ticket at an Event — Without Masks?
On August 15 2020, four days after Joe Biden announced that former California attorney general Kamala Harris would be his running mate in the upcoming presidential election, the following images began circulating — purportedly showing Biden and
Truth or Fiction?→ Is This a Photo of Seattle — Brought to You By ‘The Environmental Left’?
On August 10 2020, a Facebook user shared the following picture, purportedly taken in Seattle the previous month and showing detritus left behind by the “environmental left”: Alongside a blurry image of a trash-filled street, the
Truth or Fiction?→ Is ‘Maskne’ a Sign of a Lung Infection?
As far-right disinformation purveyors continued flailing for relevancy in August 2020, one graphic regurgitated the conspiracy theory that blemishes caused by accumulations of facial moisture under face masks (worn in order to protect others from pote
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Mozart Write a Song Called ‘Lick My Ass’?
In August 2020 a Facebook screenshot of a tweet contrasted a moral panic over Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP” with a claim that classical composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote a song called “Lick My Ass”: A sc
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Have You Ever Seen a LOCKED Mailbox at the USPS? Now You Have’
As criticism of the treatment of the United States Postal Service (USPS) continued to mount in August 2020, various photographs shared online prompted fears that U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration were locking mailboxes as part of effo
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Thousands of Seattle Democrats Gather to Demand Mail-In Voting Because Voting in Person Is Too Dangerous?
On August 18 2020, a photograph purportedly showing “thousands of Seattle Democrats” (at least, according to random people online) circulated on Twitter: This is a photo of thousands of Seattle Democrats gathering to demand mail in votin
Truth or Fiction?→ Was a New Strain of Coronavirus Known as D614G and ‘Ten Times More Infectious’ Emerge in Malaysia in August 2020?
On August 16 2020, a number of anxiety-provoking tweets discussed the purported discovery of a new strain of SARS-CoV-2 (D614G), described as “ten times more infectious” after mutating: The highly infectious Covid-19 mutation, known as
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Budget Breakdown of a 25-Year-Old Who Makes $100,000 a Year and Is Excellent with Money’
As COVID-19 related economic woes dragged on in August 2020, a Facebook user shared a CNBC “budget breakdown” chart — which involved a 25-year-old man earning $100,000 a year: On August 14 2020, the user shared the above ch
Truth or Fiction?→ Can You Have Your Mail-In Ballot Delivered as First Class Mail?
As social media users expressed alarm over United States President Donald Trump’s administration’s apparent efforts to sabotage the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), one Twitter user’s suggestion caught traction on August 14 2020. That acc
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Trump Say That Without a Deal ‘They Can’t Have Universal Mail-in Voting, They Just Can’t Have It’?
During ongoing controversy over United States Postal Service slowdowns and mail-in voting in August 2020, historian Heather Cox Richardson posted a status update to Facebook quoting United States President Donald Trump as saying that withholding USP
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Don’t Mail Ballots In, Drop at Board of Elections, This is an Inside Tip from a Postal Worker, Can’t Say More than That’
On August 3 2020, a Facebook user shared the following status update, which advises readers to submit their mail-in ballots to the Board of Elections directly — based on “an inside tip from a postal worker”: It read: Don’t m
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Nick Jonas Tweet That It’s ‘Weird’ He Sings Songs About Sexy Ladies with His Brothers?
On August 12 2020 a screenshot was shared to Facebook, purporting to show a genuine Twitter thread in which Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers wondered aloud whether it was “weird” to “sing about sexy ladies” with your brothers: