On December 18, 2018, a spate of posts and articles about fast food chain Popeye’s new “emotional support chicken” appeared on social media: The move appeared to be a stunt that was either tasty or tasteless, depending on your perspe
Publication: TruthOrFiction
Truth or Fiction?→ Could Robert Mueller’s Investigation Turn a Profit Thanks to Asset Seizures?
On December 14, 2018, documents released by the Department of Justice clocked the cost of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election at over $25 million: The Justice Department’
Truth or Fiction?→ Does Hospital Stand for ‘House of Sick People Including Treatment and Labour’?
On December 17 2018, a Facebook page shared the following meme purporting to reveal the surprising etymology of the word “hospital”: With a nod to the “today years old” meme, it read: How old were you when you realised that HOS
Truth or Fiction?→ Was Christmas Illegal in the United States Until 1836?
Did the original “War on Christmas” start in the United States? A Facebook page shared the following meme in December 2018: The text of the meme read: Did you know? Christmas was illegal in the U.S. until 1836 as it was considered an ancien
Truth or Fiction?→ Are ‘SJWs’ Demanding a Gender Neutral Santa?
Manufactured controversy about millennial affectations have nearly become a tradition all their own, and in 2018, news outlets took a shine to claims that “social justice warriors” (often shortened in internet parlance to the more derogato
Truth or Fiction?→ Is a Scathing Stephen King Tweet About the Border Wall Real?
On December 12, 2018, a screenshot of a tweet attributed to Stephen King began circulating on Facebook and other social sites. It read: Fuck your wall. Split that 5 billion between at-risk children who don’t have lunches and vets who can’t get pro
Truth or Fiction?→ Is the DHS ‘Walls Work’ Memo Real?
On December 12, 2018, a purported Department of Homeland Security memo about the proposed border wall began circulating on social media. Titled “Walls Work,” its original wording was widely described widely as “bizarre” due
Truth or Fiction?→ Did a Medical Scan of an 80-Year-Old Woman Reveal a Calcified Fetus?
On December 11, 2018, a Facebook user shared the following image and caption purportedly showing a genuine calcified fetus: 80 year old lady [emoji], went to have a cat-scan, and they found a fetus that’s been in her cervix for 30 years The reference
Truth or Fiction?→ Did ‘Migrants’ Demand $50,000 Each to Leave the United States?
On December 12, 2018, the Federalist Papers Project — a known purveyor of corrosive disinformation — published “Migrants DEMAND $50,000 Each to go Home, Or Else …” (filed under “opinion”), an article littered
Truth or Fiction?→ Is This a Real Photo of a Rattlesnake That Died in a Wildfire?
On November 18, 2018, after destructive wildfires tore through northern California, the following image was shared to Facebook: Its caption read: A rattlesnake frozen in death during the California wildfires. His last defiant act was to strike at the f
Truth or Fiction?→ Can Airbags Send Your Knees ‘Through Your Eye Sockets’ When Deployed?
When the meme below appeared on Facebook via the page The Pink Shorts Movement on November 28 2018, we were skeptical: The text read: DID YOU KNOW: Airbags deploy between 100 & 220 MPH. If you ride with your feet on the dash, you may send your knee
Truth or Fiction?→ Does a ‘Newly Obtained’ Photograph Show Donald Trump, Jr. with Accused Spy Maria Butina?
On December 10, 2018, shortly after accused Russian intelligence asset Mariia Butina reportedly entered a plea deal with prosecutors for working as an unregistered agent of a foreign power, the Facebook page Occupy Democrats shared the following photo
Truth or Fiction?→ Do Nearly Ten Percent of Americans Think Chocolate Milk Comes from Brown Cows?
On December 9, 2018, the Facebook page “Unbelievable facts” shared the following meme, which held that nearly ten percent of Americans genuinely believed that chocolate milk was produced by brown cows: Users interested enough to go Googling
Truth or Fiction?→ Is a Facebook Post About Stolen ‘Toys for Tots’ Christmas Gifts Legitimate?
On December 3 2018, a Facebook user named Danny Rice shared the following image and caption (archived here): Please pray for us our Toys For Tots storage container were broken into and our toys taken! We have over 1,500 families to serve on the 15th pl
Truth or Fiction?→ Have More Americans Died in Gun-Related Incidents Than Wars Since the Founding of the United States?
On December 7 2018, the Facebook page Change The Ref shared this meme (text below): FACT: MORE AMERICANS HAVE DIED OF GUN-RELATED INCIDENTS IN THE LAST FIFTY YEARS THAN HAVE DIED IN WAR SINCE THE COUNTRY’S FOUNDING. A caption with the image read
Truth or Fiction?→ From Central America to the United States Border, a Journey of Lies
A highly publicized caravan of people traveling from Central America in order to turn themselves in at the United States border to request asylum — one of many groups who have done so over the years — has been dogged from start to finish by false
Truth or Fiction?→ Did John ‘Chickie’ Donohue Pull off a War Zone ‘Beer Run’ in Vietnam
On December 7 2018, the Facebook page Dysfuntional Veterans shared the following meme about a man named John “Chickie” Donohue and a Vietnam war “beer run”: The meme read: John “Chickie” Donohue, a merchant marine fr
Truth or Fiction?→ Did a Principal Ban Candy Canes Because the ‘J’ Symbolizes Jesus?
On December 5, 2018, The Blaze published an article titled “Principal banned candy canes because ‘J’ shape stands ‘for Jesus.’ But that was just for starters.” The item centered on a law firm devoted to “evange
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Charles Darwin Say He Hated ‘Everybody and Everything’ on a Difficult Day?
On November 29 2018, Twitter user @Plant_Phillips shared a transcribed image of a quote attributed to Charles Darwin: Even the most famous scientists have rough weeks. Charles Darwin, for example: “But I am very poorly today and very stupid and hate
Truth or Fiction?→ Were ‘Bladed Weapons’ Discovered in Baguettes During Riots in France?
In December 2018, amid massive civil unrest in France, a photograph of a serrated knife hidden in a baguette appeared on social media with a quip that it showed “bladed weapons confiscated from rioters” by Paris police. As of December 6 the
Truth or Fiction?→ Did a Woman Use Venmo to Send Herself Thousands of Dollars from a Stranger’s Phone?
On November 12, 2018, Twitter user @SydneyShyanneS tweeted a tale about the cash-sharing app Venmo, modern dating, and bar interactions which later became virally popular: this dude has been calling my bar to check the cameras because he asked a girl t
Truth or Fiction?→ Is ‘Friends’ Leaving Netflix in January 2019?
Fans of the beloved sitcom Friends, which featured four, well, friends living in a late-1990s New York City apartment together and doing late-1990s things together, mourned together on social media in early December 2018 when Netflix apparently announc
Truth or Fiction?→ Are Asylum-Seekers Writing Numbers on Their Arms at the United States Border?
Amid stories of unarmed adults and children getting teargassed over an international border by United States forces, infants being taken from their parents, and asylum-seekers being concentrated in detention camps, yet another image appeared to evoke a
Truth or Fiction?→ Has a Scientist Who Claimed He Created the First ‘Gene-Edited Babies’ Disappeared?
In November 2018, a scientist from China named He Jankui appeared to have ushered in a new era in humanity — and re-ignited an already heated international conversation about the ethics of editing genes to make “designer babies” — by
Truth or Fiction?→ Did a Medical Committee Recommend Fundraising for a Heart Transplant?
In November 2018, a Grand Rapids, Michigan woman who needed a heart transplant due to complications from chemotherapy was turned down by a Spectrum Health medical committee due to lack of funds: Martin’s son, Alex Britt, said she was diagnosed wi
Truth or Fiction?→ Was Teargas Used ‘Once a Month’ at the Border Under the Obama Administration?
The days following a cross-border chemical attack by American forces on unarmed members of a caravan of men, women, and children from Central America across the border with Mexico were filled with disinformation and outright propaganda as people and or
Truth or Fiction?→ Were Photographs Showing the United States Firing Teargas at a Crowd in Mexico ‘Staged’?
On November 25th, 2018, at the tail end of the long Thanksgiving weekend in the United States, the United States government closed down the San Ysidro port of entry — one of the busiest land crossings in the world — into and out of Mexico. When a g
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Leeds Trinity University Ban Capital Letters to Avoid Frightening Students?
In November 2018, an odd little article about a leaked internal memo at Leeds Trinity University appeared in the British tabloid the Express. According to the story, the university told professors not to use all capital letters in order to avoid R
Truth or Fiction?→ Does a Photograph Prove that Michael Avenatti (or Keith Ellison) Badly Beat a Woman?
A bombshell report about Michael Avenatti, a high-profile lawyer turned potential politician, appeared on celebrity news and gossip site TMZ in November 2018: Michael Avenatti, who became famous for representing Stormy Daniels in her battle with Pre
Truth or Fiction?→ Is a Caravan of Central American Asylum-Seekers Demanding Special Treatment?
An annual caravan of people traveling from Central America to the United States to seek asylum and refuge from extreme violence in their home countries has been beset by falsehoods, lies, and disinformation from start to finish — from baseless claim
Truth or Fiction?→ Are Young People Boiling Menstrual Pads to Get High?
A strange story about Indonesian youths finding a interesting “new” way to get high made the rounds in November 2018: taking sanitary pads, boiling them into a soup, and then drinking the ensuring slurry after it cooled. The pads, the stor
Truth or Fiction?→ Facebook Spread Fake News, Hired ‘Trackers’ to Smear Critics
In mid-November 2018, the New York Times published a bombshell report about Facebook that convulsed both traditional and social media. The beleaguered site has been at the center of scandal after fake news scandal from the mass displacement and genocid
Truth or Fiction?→ White Supremacist Arrested After Calling a Domestic Terror Attack ‘a Dry Run’
A man with ties to some of the most violent hate groups in the United States has been arrested and charged with illegal possession of firearms just weeks after his younger brother — also reportedly a known white supremacist — committed suicide. A
Truth or Fiction?→ Did United States President Donald Trump Threaten to Withhold Disaster Funding from California?
Sizable wildfires burning up and down California have killed at least 25 people and destroyed at least one entire Northern California town, Paradise. The exact toll and cost as of November 11, 2018 is still unknown, because at least two enormously dest
Truth or Fiction?→ Stan Lee, Comic-Book Legend, Dead at 95
Stan Lee, the Marvel Comics co-creator who left an enduring mark on popular culture and changed the world of comic books forever, has died, reports TMZ. Lee’s storied career spanned decades. ComicBook.com reports that before he was deployed durin
Truth or Fiction?→ Did William Shatner Record a Christmas Album With Iggy Pop and Henry Rollins?
As people began to get ready for the holidays in November 2018, social media suddenly became aware of an odd little rumor that had evidently passed under the radar months before. Apparently William Shatner, an actor and performer who is perhaps best kn
Truth or Fiction?→ Hundreds of Wrapped Voting Machines Discovered in a Georgia Warehouse?
The American midterm elections on November 6, 2018 transformed what is normally a relatively sleepy affair that receives little coverage into a bitter, heavily-tracked series of races around the country punctuated by scandals, violence, and unexpected
Truth or Fiction?→ Was the Thousand Oaks Shooter Identified as a Man of Middle Eastern Descent?
Mere hours after a gunman entered a nightclub in Thousand Oaks, California, murdering at least twelve people before shooting himself, the social media disinformation machine and its usual array of bots and paid trolls began to peddle unverified informa
Truth or Fiction?→ Did a CNN Reporter Assault a White House Employee?
The morning after a hotly-contested midterm election resulted in Republicans resoundingly losing control of the House, United States President Donald Trump held a rambling, bizarre press conference in which he alternately took credit for Republicans ma
Truth or Fiction?→ Are Members of a Refugee Caravan Defiling American Flags on Their Way to the United States?
An annual caravan heading from Central America to the southern United States border to seek asylum has been beset by rumors, misinformation, and dramatic disinformation during the 2018 election cycle. Participants in the annual event are generally fro