Auto makers Volkswagen scuttled an online ad in May 2020 campaign after social media users detected a prejudiced subtext and outright racist text within the short video. A tweet by journalist Felix Edeha criticizing the video was highlighted (or ̶
Publication: TruthOrFiction
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Trump Say There Are ‘Many Per Capitas’ During a COVID-19 Discussion?
On May 20 2020, a number of people on social media referenced remarks by United States President Donald Trump about the meaning of the phrase “per capita”: Trump: "And, when you say per capita, there’s many per capitas. It’s li
Truth or Fiction?→ In May 2020, Did Scientists Find Evidence of a Parallel Universe Where Time Runs Backwards?
If you spent any time on social media in the later days of May 2020, chances are you saw a New York Post article from May 19 2020 about scientists “discovering a parallel universe” circulating on social media, which is apparently a place
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Walmart Promote a COVID-19 Testing Site Using a Pepsi Ad?
Walmart pulled a banner promoting a COVID-19 testing site on May 20 2020 after receiving criticism for also using the space to promote a soft drink. A photo of the banner that has been shared thousands of times shows the mention of the site alongside
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Michigan Send Absentee Ballots to 7.7 Million People?
On May 20 2020, United States President Donald Trump attempted to smear the Michigan secretary of state’s office in a tweet regurgitating one of his most thoroughly debunked claims. “Michigan sends absentee ballots to 7.7 million people ah
Truth or Fiction?→ There’s No ‘New Evidence’ Face Masks Pose Health Risks to Healthy People During the COVID-19 Pandemic
On May 18 2020, ScienceTimes.com posted a story with a frightening and shocking headline: “New Evidence Shows Wearing Face Mask Can Help Coronavirus Enter the Brain and Pose More Health Risk, Warn Expert.” The page picked up quite a lot o
Truth or Fiction?→ Was there a Garbage Pail Kids ‘Corona Mona’ Card?
In April and May 2020, memes circulated of a specific trading card from 1980s American pop culture touchstone the Garbage Pail Kids called “Corona Mona,” showing one of the product’s signature unseemly figures covered in mucus: In t
Truth or Fiction?→ Was Kroger Demanding that Employees Return Emergency Pay?
The Kroger grocery store chain backed off of a policy that brought about criticism and increased scrutiny, calling it an “error” that only affected a small number of workers. The photograph, first posted to Twitter on May 18 2020, showed
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Dad, How Do I?’ YouTube Channel Goes Massively Viral During COVID-19 Lockdown
On May 19 2020, a Facebook user shared the following text, alongside a screenshot of a YouTube channel called “Dad, How Do I?” (with an edit included after the post began rapidly spreading): This YouTuber’s dad walked out on his family w
Truth or Fiction?→ Can’t Get a Facebook Avatar Yet? You’re Not Alone
In mid-May 2020, Facebook Avatars were introduced — an app function similar to the popular Snapchat-linked app Bitmoji. However, a number of users reported inability to create a Facebook Avatar despite following the provided instructions to do s
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Muzzles are for Dogs and Slaves’ COVID-19 Protest Sign
On May 18 2020, a photograph purportedly from a COVID-19 anti-lockdown protest began circulating, which showed a white woman holding a sign reading “muzzles are for dogs and slaves” alongside an illustration of a black woman wearing a mask
Truth or Fiction?→ Facebook Fact-Checking Platform Dangerously Labels Mask Meme ‘False,’ Discourages Use of Masks Against Expert Guidelines
In May 2020 — in the middle of a global COVID-19 pandemic — a screenshot of a dangerously misapplied Facebook fact-checking flag began circulating which falsely and dangerously contradicts best practices around the use of masks in public p
Truth or Fiction?→ Is Ulta Paying Employees for the Duration of the COVID-19 Pandemic?
On May 10 2020, Ulta Beauty became the subject of a viral Facebook post claiming that the chain continued paying their furloughed employees for the duration of the pandemic: In what appeared to be originally a friends-locked post, the alliterativel
Truth or Fiction?→ OurMine Seizes Popeyes, Burger King Web Sites
Late on May 14 2020 (or early on May 15 2020) Popeyes.com and BurgerKing.com were hacked, replaced with the following message, an email address, and the hashtag #OurMine: Our Mine is here[,] contact us for better security[.] Use of the hashtag #OurMin
Truth or Fiction?→ Were Pride Parades Cancelled Over COVID-19 Without Sparking Armed Protests?
Right-wing personality Tomi Lahren’s attempt to criticize “liberals” on Twitter was refuted when several other users pointed out that she was attempted to gin up controversy that was already moot. “To the pro-eternal shutdown c
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Striking’ Photograph of Children Playing in ‘Chalk Squares’ During Coronavirus Pandemic
On May 12 2020, the following image of small children separated by “chalk squares” on a playground during the COVID-19 pandemic began circulating: In a caption on the above iteration, the user wrote “Their reality …,” bu
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Say Any Protester Carrying a Firearm Will Be Arrested?
A British tabloid’s story on a right-wing demonstration in Michigan circulated via social media with a headline with a much different connotation than the one actually seen on its website. For Facebook users, the Daily Mail’s story on a Ma
Truth or Fiction?→ AskReddit ‘People Who Are 40+ and Happy’ Advice Thread Comment Becomes Viral Facebook Post
On May 11 2020, Facebook user Brandon Green shared a screenshot of a comment on an AskReddit thread titled “People who are 40+ and happy with their life, what is your advice to people in their 20s?” Green’s post included only a scree
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Elon Musk Use Buca di Beppo’s Photograph of a Sundae?
Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk drew another round of criticism online after reposting a restaurant chain’s promotional photograph without attribution. Musk posted the photo — an “ice cream sundae in a martini glass,” as he describe
Truth or Fiction?→ Did U.S. President Donald Trump Tweet That Obama Didn’t ‘Prepair’ for the Coronavirus Pandemic?
On May 12 2020, a screenshot of a purported tweet from United States President Donald Trump circulated — in which he purportedly lashed out at Barack Obama and said that his predecessor didn’t “prepair” for the coronavirus pa
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Woodstock Occur ‘in the Middle of a Pandemic’?
On May 1 2020, the American Institute for Economic Research reported that Woodstock was held during a pandemic — information which, in a vacuum, could pass for a charming piece of late 1960s nostalgia. But this information does not exist in a
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Incredibly Terrible’: L.A. Times’ ‘Mutant Coronavirus’ Story Put Under The Microscope
A Los Angeles Times story reporting the appearance of a “dominant” new strain of COVID-19 has prompted criticism for relying on a document that had not been vetted through a traditional peer-review process. The May 5 2020 story covers the
Truth or Fiction?→ Is Ventura County COVID-19 Testing and Removing Children from Homes?
Among early May 2020 rumors about “forced testing” Americans for COVID-19 (occasionally with increasingly hysterical rumors about purported home intrusions under H.R. 6666) was a consistent claim that the government sought to remove childr
Truth or Fiction?→ Does House Bill 6666 (the TRACE Act) Allow the Government to Enter Your Home, Test for COVID-19, and Take Your Children or Parents?
In early May 2020, a number of panicked posts about proposed legislation (H.R. 6666, also called the Testing, Reaching, And Contacting Everyone, or TRACE Act) began spreading on social media, including a May 8 2020 video with a massive 2.5 million vie
Truth or Fiction?→ Is the California Department of Social Services Mandating COVID-19 Testing for Eligible Families — and Threatening to Place Children in Foster Care?
In early May 2020, a letter attributed to California’s Department of Social Services circulated on Facebook. It purportedly mandated that recipients of programs like MediCal and CalFresh immediately submit to testing for COVID-19 antigens or ant
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Neil Gaiman Reveal That He Was Reading a Book About Divorcing a Narcissist?
Observers and fans of author Neil Gaiman and singer Amanda Palmer were abuzz on May 8 2020, after a screengrab surfaced of what was believed to be another public manifestation of their recent split. The image — posted in at least two different p
Truth or Fiction?→ Do These X-Rays Show What COVID-19 Does To Your Lungs?
A graphic exhorting social media users to take COVID-19 seriously only added to the disinformation surrounding the disease. The meme, which began circulating on Facebook in May 2020, shows four different chest X-rays. The caption claims that the fourt
Truth or Fiction?→ Did FARK’s Drew Curtis ‘Predict’ a Difficult 2020 — in 2015?
On May 1 2020, FARK‘s Drew Curtis retweeted a tweet of his own — oddly, a December 31 2015 commentary about being a time traveler from 2020, advising readers to enjoy the new year (2016), because 2020 was apparently going to be something e
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Hydroxychloroquine 60¢ a Pill, Remdesivir $1000 a Dose, Now Do You See Why They are Pushing the New Drug and Not the Old One?’
On May 1 2020, a Facebook user shared the following post, which contained the claim that antiviral medication remdesivir had replaced hydroxychloroquine as a favored hopeful treatment for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 because the former medica
Truth or Fiction?→ Did a May 6 1993 ‘Simpsons’ Episode Feature an ‘Asian Flu’ And ‘Murder Bees’?
Almost every major global event has a purported Simpsons episode predicting it, and COVID-19 was no different — but a variation of the 2020 claim that The Simpsons predicted COVID-19 snapped back with a second claim the same episode also pre
Truth or Fiction?→ Researcher Behind Retracted Paper Launches Anti-Fauci Campaign
The researcher-turned-anti-vaccine activist whose work was publicly redacted by a leading journal resurfaced in May 2020 to attack National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci and accuse him of spreading disinformation
Truth or Fiction?→ COVID-19 HIPAA Face Mask Exemption ‘Passes’
Chances are in early May 2020 you saw at least one Facebook post depicting a somewhat-official looking printable document: A viral image claiming that Americans in any state where masks had been mandated or otherwise advised in public places were spe
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Admit That Reopening Businesses Would Lead to More COVID-19 Cases?
In the middle of announcing his plan calling for workers to resume business amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was recorded admitting that he knew it would spur an increase in cases of the disease. “How do we know reopening busin
Truth or Fiction?→ Was ‘Proud Boy’ Rob Cantrell Photographed at a Right-Wing Protest in Michigan?
The photograph that came to symbolize the hypocrisy present in an anti-government protest in Michigan on April 30 2020 became the center of an unfounded allegation concerning its origins. The image, showing an unidentified man yelling at a group of po
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Venice in Quarantine’: Did Flamingos Flock to Quiet Canals?
Quirky or uplifting news was in high demand as the COVID-19 pandemic dragged on, which was likely the reason that a Facebook post (“Venice … in quarantine,” archived here) purportedly showing flamingos in the deserted canals of Venic
Truth or Fiction?→ Are COVID-19 Doctors Reporting Bizarre Blood Clotting and Strokes in Otherwise Healthy Young Patients?
On May 3 2020, Twitter user Bess Kalb tweeted that her father, an intensive care unit doctor, claimed that COVID-19 damaged blood and vascular systems of victims like “sticking your finger in an electric socket”: My dad is an ICU doctor
Truth or Fiction?→ Was a Man in California Spotted Shopping While Wearing a Ku Klux Klan Hood?
Social media users and officials in a small southern California city condemned photographs spreading online showing an unidentified man shopping in public while wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood as a “face mask” during the first weeks of the COV
Truth or Fiction?→ Did a Right-Wing COVID-19 Protester Carry a Sign Displaying a Nazi Slogan?
Several photographs emerged online on May 1 2020 purportedly showing right-wing protesters — and in one case a child — displaying a Nazi slogan. But at least one of the images was manipulated digitally. As the Associated Press reported, a
Truth or Fiction?→ The Viral Death of Kat Restin
Segments of Twitter are alight with rumors surrounding the April 2020 death of Virginia teenager Kat Restin and the alleged circumstances regarding her demise. An obituary for Restin, 19, was published on April 23 2020. Restin’s Obituary In that
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Michigan Gov. Whitmer Need Protection From Armed Right-Wing Protesters?
As armed demonstrators descended on the Michigan statehouse in Lansing on April 30 2020, the footage became a point of contention online. The video, first posted by WDIV-TV business editor Rod Meloni, shows a group of protesters demanding to be let in