An advocacy group for military service members is calling on similar organizations as well as federal officials and social media platforms to take more steps to protect their fellow veterans from being manipulated by online disinformation. “Serv
Publication: trump administration
Truth or Fiction?→ Senate Report: NRA ‘Became a Foreign Asset’ for Russia Before 2016 Election
Despite claims to the contrary, officials with the National Rifle Association (NRA) were pursuing personal business gains as part of a 2015 trip to Moscow involving convicted Kremlin operative Maria Butina, according to a Senate Finance Committee repo
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘The Simpsons Predicted Greta Thunberg’ Meme
There is a common, cyclical rumor that animated comedy series The Simpsons — which began its run in 1989 — has predicted numerous events to come. In September 2019, one such iteration claimed that climate crisis activist Greta Thunberg was amon
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Trump-Supporting Teens Trick Bernie Sanders into Posing with Them?
In late September 2019 a number of Facebook posters shared a photograph of Sen. Bernie Sanders posing with two high school girls in “Trump 2020” and “Make America Great Again” attire. Although some users shared it without a mis
Truth or Fiction?→ Were Billions of Dollars ‘Stolen’ From Rep. Elijah Cummings’ District?
In July 2019, United States President Donald Trump once again recycled an old tactic of responding to criticism from Democratic Party lawmakers by pushing false and debunked claims about them. In this case, Trump singled out Maryland Rep. Elijah Cumm
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘The Wall, It’s Real and It’s Magnificent’ Facebook Meme
On September 17 2019, the Facebook page “For America” shared the following border wall meme (archived here): An image of what was heavily implied to be United States President Donald Trump’ promised “border wall̶
Truth or Fiction?→ Did ICE Get Caught Shopping for ‘Urban Warfare’ Training Facilities?
A Newsweek story published on September 11, 2019 revived fears about the possible intentions of the United States’ Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after it showed that the agency failed to redact documents related to “urban warfa
Truth or Fiction?→ Does Trump Have a 94 Percent Approval Rating with Republicans?
On September 9 2019, President Donald Trump used his Twitter account to push a claim of record popularity that has already been debunked by several news organizations. For the fourth time in three months, Trump boasted that he had a “94 percent&
Truth or Fiction?→ United States Officials Blame ‘Confusion’ After Viral Video of Hurricane Evacuees Turned Away
As video spread of more than a hundred Hurricane Dorian evacuees from the Bahamas being told they could not escape the damage by coming to the United States on September 9, 2019 if they did not have a visa, immigration officials blamed a local ferry c
Truth or Fiction?→ Did a Swedish Scientist Propose Cannibalism to Fight Climate Change?
On September 7 2019, United States President Donald Trump retweeted a Breitbart.com post that suggested a Swedish scientist had proposed that cannibalism was a viable solution to fight climate change: Swedish behavioral scientist Magnus Söderlund h
Truth or Fiction?→ Weather Agency Contradicts Itself Over Trump’s Hurricane ‘Forecast’
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) disavowed its own agency’s findings in a brief statement on September 6 2019, siding with United States President Donald Trump amid allegations that the president may have illegally alte
Truth or Fiction?→ Has ICE Refused to Deport Undocumented White Immigrants?
While the majority of attention on deportations by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has centered around their actions against immigrants from Latin American countries, it is inaccurate to say that the agency does not
Truth or Fiction?→ Has Denmark Offered to Buy the United States From Russia?
In the later days of August 2019, the Trump administration presented a dizzying array of outrageous claims and proposals, one of which appeared to capture the hearts and minds of American reporters completely for several days — a pitch to buy Greenl
Truth or Fiction?→ Instagram Copyright Hoax
A recurring online hoax spread even further on August 20 2019, when a wave of high-profile people posted a fake, long-debunked notice about Instagram’s terms of use that eventually ended up on Secretary of Energy Rick Perry’s Instagram ac
Truth or Fiction?→ Did the Presidents of the United States and France Agree on Inviting Russia Back Into the Group of Seven?
An August 20 2019 story about the Group of Seven (G7) economic forum and purported discussions between United States President Donald Trump and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron was quickly contradicted by other reporters. CNN’s Kylie Atwoo
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Someone Act Out a ‘Mock Assassination’ of Trump at a Democratic Fundraiser?
A Democratic state senator in Illinois apologized after confirming that photographs of an “assassination” of a person dressed up like President Donald Trump were taken at a fundraising event. “The incident that took place is unaccept
Truth or Fiction?→ Were Protesters of American Immigration Policies Hit by a Truck and Injured in Rhode Island?
On August 15 2019, Facebook posts (sometimes covered for graphic violence) appeared about an incident during which protesters at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in (Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, Rhode Island) were reported
Truth or Fiction?→ Was the Mississippi Chicken Plant Raided by American Immigration Authorities Previously Sued for Workplace Abuses?
An early August 2019 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid at Mississippi chicken plant made national news due to its size and the number of children left without parents or guardians in its wake; in its aftermath, rumors claimed that the b
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Public Assistance Programs Exist in the United States Before Social Security?
In August 2019, disinformation and misinformation about the history of immigration to the United States flourished online following the announcement that United States President Donald Trump’s administration would pursue the so-called “pub
Truth or Fiction?→ Is Donald Trump Deleting Anti-Immigrant Tweets?
As several mass shootings within just days of one another left the United States reeling, the ideologies of the shooters began to come under scrutiny for possible ties to sites that specialize in radicalizing disaffected young men into violent white
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Lindsey Graham Call Donald Trump a ‘Kook’ and ‘Not Fit to Lead’ in 2016?
On May 1 2019, the Facebook page “The Other 98%” shared the following meme (archived here), contrasting 2016 with 2019 quotes from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and characterizations of President Trump as a “kook” who
Truth or Fiction?→ Does a ‘Leaked’ British Intelligence Document Prove Trump Wiretapping Claims?
In April 2019, in the days and weeks following the release of a heavily anticipated (and heavily redacted) Special Counsel’s report on interference into the 2016 United States presidential elections, rumors and speculation reinvigorated a March
Truth or Fiction?→ Asylum-Seekers Held Under a Bridge in El Paso
On March 28 2019, a Twitter user shared the following tweet, purportedly showing a large number of people being detained under an overpass in El Paso, Texas: This concentration camp full of children is in El Paso, Texas, United States. It’s 2019. p
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Say ‘All the Technology in the World Won’t Let Us Build a Wall in the Mountains’?
On February 22 2019, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) shared the following meme (archived here), purporting to quote Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on the feasibility of building walls across mountains in an apparent reference to the United States border: Kin
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s State of the Union Outfit Cost Thousands of Dollars?
In February 2019, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez was among a number of Democratic women wearing all white ensembles for the president’s State of the Union address, and the New York congresswoman’s outfit in particular inspired a number of me
Truth or Fiction?→ Is This the League of Nazi Women, Who ‘Always Wore White’?
On February 5 2019, Facebook user Anna Love shared the following image in a status update, claiming that the photograph shows Nazi Socialist women wearing their customary white attire: In the status update field, Love wrote: The League of Nazi Sociali
Truth or Fiction?→ Chuck Schumer Border Wall 2013 vs. 2018
In January 2019, the Facebook page “McGroarty for Freedom” shared the following meme, which contrasted purported positions held by Sen. Chuck Schumer in 2013 and 2018 on the topic of a border wall to separate the United States from Mexico:
Truth or Fiction?→ Is This a Photo of Nancy Pelosi and George Soros’s Son?
In January 2019, a Facebook user shared the following image, purportedly showing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi alongside George Soros’s son: The title and text surrounding the image, which is apparently a screenshot of an October 2018 blog post, cl
Truth or Fiction?→ Is a Photograph of Roger Stone Holding a ‘Hillary for Prison’ Shirt Real?
After political operative Roger Stone was arrested on January 25 2019, a photograph in which he appeared to proudly display a shirt bearing the slogan “Hillary for Prison” began circulating on social media: As in the example above, the ima
Truth or Fiction?→ Is This a Photograph of Roger Stone’s Neighbor Gleefully Watching the FBI Raid of His Home?
On January 25 2019, the Facebook page “Make ‘Murica Great Again” shared the following photograph of a smiling woman clad in a fur coat and drinking wine, purportedly a neighbor of Roger Stone toasting his arrest during a raid by Feder
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Taxpayers Foot the Bill for the Trump Family’s Dinner at His Property While Furloughed Workers Went Unpaid?
On January 24 2019, a Facebook user shared the following shutdown related meme to Facebook: Beneath a photograph of Donald Trump, his children, and their spouses, text stated: So get this … Last Night, Taxpayers Paid Donald Trump To Feed Donald
Truth or Fiction?→ Did House Democrats Vote Against Shutdown Back Pay in January 2019?
On January 22 2019, Rep. Dan Crenshaw tweeted: The depicted tweet said: Big deal that never got reported: Last week, House GOP voted to pay federal employees their 1st paycheck of 2019, despite shutdown. Only 6 Dems voted with us. It failed. Dem prior
Snopes→ Did a Group of Migrant Men With a Kidnapped Mexican Girl Hold a Texas Rancher in El Indio at Gunpoint?
We sought to corroborate an incident described in a social media post that went viral in early 2019.
Truth or Fiction?→ Did the President Tweet in Support of a Covington Catholic Student?
On January 19 2019, Covington Catholic student Nick Sandmann was named in a viral video after a clip of his interaction with Native American activist Nathan Phillips at the National Mall spread across social media. In the ensuing controversy, a tweet
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Texas Ranchers Find ‘Prayer Rugs’ Near the U.S.-Mexico Border?
Amid a flurry of headlines about the government shutdown and Michael Cohen on January 18 2019, President Donald Trump tweeted a highly dubious claim that ranchers on the southern United States border had found “prayer rugs” as part of a pl
Truth or Fiction?→ Did the United States Authorize $50 Billion for the Secure Fence Act of 2006?
On January 10, 2019, a text-based status update about United States President George W. Bush’s Secure Fence Act of 2006 went viral: President George W. Bush signed the Secure Fence Act of 2006 into law “approved $50 Billion for the wall
Truth or Fiction?→ Did First Lady Melania Trump Announce a Child Wellness Initiative on the Same Day President Trump Asked for CHIP Cuts?
In January 2019 amid an ongoing government shutdown, a May 2018 Occupy Democrats meme showed up once again on Facebook: Under a photograph of Melania Trump and President Trump, text stated: Today, Melania Trump announced her new agenda, focused on
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Democrat Government Shutdown’ Explained
In mid-January 2019, the Facebook page “I Love My Country” shared a status update meme with the title, “Democrat Government Shutdown Explained”: Amid scattered images of United States President Donald Trump, Sen. Chuck Schumer
Truth or Fiction?→ Is Nancy Pelosi Refusing to Meet with Any U.S. Citizen Who Had a Family Member Murdered by ‘an Illegal’?
In January 2019, a Facebook user posted a status update that has since become virally popular. It said: IMAGINE THAT NANCY PELOSI IS REFUSING TO MEET WITH ANY U.S. CITIZEN WHO HAD A FAMILY MEMBER MURDERED BY AN ILLEGAL. The post appeared on its own
Truth or Fiction?→ Did President Trump Say ‘Illegal Immigration’ Has Been a Problem in the U.S. for ‘Thousands of Years’?
On January 6, 2019, the following status update appeared, paraphrasing purported comments made by United States President Donald Trump which described “illegal immigration” as an American problem for “thousands of years”: Th