During the September 29 2020 presidential debate, United States President and Republican nominee Donald Trump asserted that the “Portland Sheriff” endorsed him on that day. Trump’s claim arose at the tail end of the first 30 minutes
Publication: reporting
Truth or Fiction?→ Social Media Amplifies Conspiracies Targeting Biden Before First 2020 Debate
Hours before the first presidential debate on September 29 2020, right-wing operatives and blogs spewed several conspiracy theories that were only amplified, as per usual, on social media platforms that otherwise claim to fight disinformation. “
Truth or Fiction?→ Conspiracy Forums Amplify Russian Troll Site’s ‘Laundry List’ of Arrested Politicians
A lengthy “copypasta” disinformation post with content dating back to at least 2015 was recirculated online in conspiracy theory forums and Facebook in August and September 2020 — amplified by a Russian website. NBC News reporter Ben
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?→ ‘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?→ ‘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?→ How COVID-19 Triggered a #SaveTheChildren Child Trafficking Panic
In the summer of 2020, a massive amount of rumors about child trafficking appeared under the hashtag #savethechildren — and temporary hashtag filtering by Facebook in response was cited as evidence of “media suppression” of a massive
Truth or Fiction?→ Founder of Abuse Survivors Group Accused of Creating — and ‘Killing’ — Fake Twitter Professor
A Twitter account that had gained visibility within academic circles on the platform was suspended on August 3 2020 amid a maelstrom of skepticism of its legitimacy and well as criticism toward the user suspected of creating the account as well as the
Truth or Fiction?→ Death of ‘Men’s Rights’ Attorney Stokes New Conspiracy Theories
The death of a 72-year-old “anti-feminist” attorney suspected of carrying out a fatal attack against a federal judge and her family has spawned new online speculation. Roy Den Hollander was found dead in upstate New York less than 24 hours
Truth or Fiction?→ Did WitchTok ‘Baby Witches’ Hex the Moon?
On July 18 2020, a rumor began spreading on “WitchTok” (a TikTok witch community) that a group of “baby witches” endeavored to “hex the moon” and “hex the fae,” setting off moral panics and fevered discu
Truth or Fiction?→ Academic’s Work Covering COVID-19 Mistakenly Marked as ‘Spam’ by Facebook
An infectious disease professor covering the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic around the state of Georgia briefly found that her readers were unable to share her work on Facebook after being designated by “spam” on the platform. “It w
Truth or Fiction?→ Videos of Lynching Threat in Monroe County, Indiana Goes Viral on Facebook
On July 5 2020, an Indiana man shared the following three videos, an incident he described as an “attempted lynching” at Monroe Lake (archived here): Booker’s Written Account of the Altercation In the July 5 2020 post, Booker wro
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Carol Ann Channels George Floyd’
On June 25 2020, CommonDreams.com editor Eoin Higgins tweeted screenshots of a Facebook post on the since-deleted Facebook page “Carol Ann — The James Experience” — in which self-professed “entity channeler” Carol A
Truth or Fiction?→ Dave Chappelle Releases ‘8:46’ via YouTube, Netflix, Discusses Death of George Floyd and Protests
In June 2020, comedian Dave Chappelle released an unexpected, 27-minute-long special titled 8:46 — a number instantly recognizable as the amount of time former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd’s neck, killing
Truth or Fiction?→ The ‘Asymptomatic Carriers’ of COVID-19 Controversy, Explained
On June 9 2020, what was framed as a World Health Organization (WHO) finding about asymptomatic spread of COVID-19 was shared seemingly everywhere — but within 24 hours, the organization had stepped in to issue an important clarification. A WHO
Truth or Fiction?→ BabyNames.com Intermittently Crashes After Paying Tribute to Victims of Police Violence
On June 8 2020, a number of social media posts directed users to visit the website BabyNames.com (a source for baby naming ideas), often without preview — and the popularity of the messages meant a lot of people were not immediately aware of why
Truth or Fiction?→ Obamagate, Explained
Chances are you saw at least a passing reference to “Obamagate” in May 2020, and chances are similar you (like many) struggled to understand what “Obamagate” might actually be. We’ll do our best to break it down. WhatR
Truth or Fiction?→ Social Media Users Reveal White Woman Calling Police on Black Man Filming Her
A white woman caught on video threatening to use a man’s ethnicity against him by calling New York City police to report “an African-American man threatening my life” has offered a public apology after her identity was swiftly expose
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?→ 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?→ ‘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?→ 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?→ 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?→ Medical Community Refutes Bakersfield Doctors’ Attempts to Minimize COVID-19
Two California-based doctors’ attempt to compare COVID-19 to the common flu has incurred criticism and debunking from not only their local colleagues, but medical professionals at the state and national level. In a rare step, the American Colleg
Truth or Fiction?→ Who Is Mark Grenon?
The Florida merchant claiming credit for United States President Donald Trump’s remarks concerning the use of disinfectants as a “cure” for COVID-19 has a history of pushing other conspiracy theories despite legal and journalistic in
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Dear Georgia IDGAF’ Meme
On April 21 2020, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp made the controversial decision to “re-open” some of his states non-essential businesses in spite of a spreading COVID-19 pandemic; that night, a meme addressed to Georgia residents advised, &#
Truth or Fiction?→ Disinformation Linking COVID-19 to Hemoglobin Spreads to Spanish-Speaking Readers
The conspiracy theory pushing the idea that COVID-19 binds itself to patients’ hemoglobin has spread beyond English-language websites, and it is now targeting readers on social media and news organizations in Spanish. This version of the claim,
Truth or Fiction?→ Facebook Activity for Right-Wing ‘Gridlock’ Protests Surges
Facebook groups supporting or organizing anti-government protests continued to appear on the platform in mid-April 2020, despite the platform reportedly shuttering at least two such events. We found several groups using the “Operation Gridlock&#
Truth or Fiction?→ Meme Comparing ‘Flattening the Curve’ of COVID-19 to Deploying a Parachute Goes Viral
In mid-April 2020, a meme appeared on Facebook, a “very appropriate analogy” about “flattening the curve” of the COVID-19 pandemic amid growing calls to lift social distancing measures (occasionally in the form of protests). Ve
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Choose’ or ‘Pick’ Your ‘Quarantine House’ and Other Engagement Bait During COVID-19
Chances are in early April 2020 you saw many “choose your quarantine house” or “pick your quarantine house” memes on social media, the global pandemic version of “would you live in a cabin with no wifi for a month for a m
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘COVID-19 Had Us All Fooled, but Now We Might Have Finally Found Its Secret’ Medium Post
In early April 2020, a post published to Medium.com circulated on social media, titled “Covid-19 had us all fooled, but now we might have finally found its secret.” The post went viral in archived and replicated form even after the site re
Truth or Fiction?→ Conspiracy Theorists, Celebrities Push Disinformation Blaming Cell Towers for COVID-19
As conspiracy theories — fanned in part by public figures — continue spreading, feeding into a feverish, misdirected blame leveled at mobile phone towers for the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities in Great Britain are investigating a spate o
Truth or Fiction?→ USNS Mercy and USNS Comfort Dock in Cities for Coronavirus Response
Amid jarring scenes of metropolitan hospitals dangerously strained by COVID-19 during the coronavirus pandemic, two naval hospital ships (the USNS Comfort and USNS Mercy) were docked in New York City and Los Angeles respectively in late March 2020
Truth or Fiction?→ The COVID-19 Chloroquine Controversy, Explained
On March 30 2020, a number of outlets reported that the Food and Drug Administration had given a limited go-ahead for the use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine in medical settings in the latest development in what has become a bizarrely (but not e
Truth or Fiction?→ The #GeneralStrike Hashtag and the Coronavirus Economic Debate
On March 24 2020, #GeneralStrike was among Twitter’s most prominent hashtags in response to calls that people return to work just days after social distancing measures and lockdowns were put in place to lessen COVID-19’s effects and spread
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘This is What Happens When You Tell Workers to Self Isolate but Don’t Protect Their Incomes’
On March 18 2020, the top post on Reddit’s r/all (from r/pics) was titled, “This is what happens when you tell workers to self isolate but don’t protect their incomes,” and it showed crowds of people standing close to one another
Truth or Fiction?→ Imperial College London’s COVID-19 Report, Explained
On March 17 2020, an Imperial College London paper about coronavirus and COVID-19 trajectory models was referenced widely in the news and on social media, causing a considerable amount of concern and drawing global attention. Discourse about the Imper
Truth or Fiction?→ Man Displays Nazi Banner at Bernie Sanders Rally
During a March 5 2020 Bernie Sanders rally in Arizona, an individual seated in the venue unrolled a large Nazi banner as Sanders spoke: In the above photograph, a smiling Sanders faced away from the banner. Video captured from a different perspecti
Truth or Fiction?→ Conspiracy Theorists Help Spread Video Pushing Coronavirus ‘Live Cremation’ Claim
A video circulating online promoting the claim that coronavirus victims in China were being “cremated alive” was promoted by an organization employing disinformation specialist and white nationalist Steve Bannon. According to Politifact, t