On June 13 2023 — amid a hugely weaponized disinformation narrative about queer and trans people timed to correspond with Pride Month — an iFunny commenter responded to a Pride flag-related post with a claim: “Despite being 2 percent
Publication: white supremacists
Truth or Fiction?→ Election Denier Kari Lake Facing Investigation as Arizona GOP Further Embraces Conspiracy Theories
Shortly after a state election that saw her party cohorts double down on conspiracy theories, failed right-wing Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake faced a possible investigation for wrongfully sharing voter information. Lake, who lost the Novemb
Truth or Fiction?→ George Santos Hand Gesture
Amid ongoing and fruitless efforts to elect a U.S. House Speaker on January 5 2023, a photograph of embattled freshman Rep.-elect George Santos (R-New York) using the “OK sign,” a hand gesture appropriated for signaling by white supremacist
Truth or Fiction?→ Did All House Republicans Vote Down a Measure to Monitor White Supremacists in the Military?
On July 14 2022, a popular post to Reddit’s r/politics suggested that all House Republicans had voted against monitoring white supremacists in the military: House Republicans All Vote Against Neo-Nazi Probe of Military, Police from
Snopes→ White Supremacists Are Riling Up Thousands on Social Media
The social media posts are of a distinct type.
Truth or Fiction?→ Marjorie Taylor Greene: ‘White Supremacy Should Not Be the Main Target … We Should Not Be Pursuing People Based on How They Vote’
As the nation continued to discover and discuss “replacement theory” in late May 2022, a Twitter screenshot on Imgur attributed a quote to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia), addressing white supremacy by saying that the government
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Viking Was a Job … Not a Race or Ethnicity’
In May 2022, screenshots of a tweet about Netflix, Vikings, and white supremacy circulated on Facebook. In tweet seen in the screenshot, user @YasmineJibril retweeted another user’s commentary about Netflix’s purported casting of a woman of
Truth or Fiction?→ Georgia Republican’s Photograph Brings Back Concern Over ‘White Power’ Gesture
Heading into one of two Senate runoff elections in Georgia, a photograph of right-wing incumbent Sen. David Perdue — and the purported intent behind it — received newfound attention in January 2021, including a side debate over whether it
Truth or Fiction?→ Activists Accuse Facebook of Ignoring Warning on Neo-Nazi Groups’ Spread
An activist group combating the proliferation of white supremacist propaganda online accused Facebook in a November 2020 report of failing to act when alerted to the spread of one such network on its platforms in 2018. “Facebook’s leadersh
Truth or Fiction?→ Are Brazilian Troops Considering ‘Military Intervention’ on Trump’s Behalf?
A right-wing group based out of San Diego State University in California stoked more conspiracy theories around the 2020 U.S. presidential elections on Twitter, claiming that troops and operatives from other governments may get involved on behalf of i
Truth or Fiction?→ As U.S. Election Looms, Agitprop Floods Social Media Platforms
In the days leading up to the 2020 U.S. presidential election, the disinformation that has been a hallmark of the Trump campaign, then administration, then campaign again reached new heights with political smears, Soviet-style weaponized conspiracy t
Truth or Fiction?→ Suspects in Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Used Facebook as a Recruitment Tool
Social media accounts of several people arrested and charged with conspiring to kidnap Michigan’s Democratic Party governor Gretchen Whitmer were devoted to supporting or promoting right-wing disinformation, according to investigators and conten
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?→ LAPD ‘14188’ Badge Number Controversy
On July 3 2020, Twitter user Hayes Davenport shared a screenshot of a purported Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) example badge web page, featuring a badge with the number 14188: Unfortunate sample badge number choice in my opinion pic.twitter.co
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Black Lives Matter Members Attack a Man While Protesting a Statue of Louis IX?
A demonstration calling for the removal of a historical monument in in St. Louis in June 2020 was targeted by both far-right online users and channels both before it took place and prior to an altercation that was subsequently used to smear both the o
Truth or Fiction?→ Were Four Busloads of Protesters (or ‘Antifa’) in Ada, Oklahoma Met by ‘600 Armed Americans,’ — and the News Won’t Report It?
On June 18 2020, Facebook user Eric Wicklund shared the following post, claiming (in yet another warmed-over variation on very well-worn scarelore) that “four busloads” of protesters planned to descend on Ada, Oklahoma — but their ne
Truth or Fiction?→ Did the Trump Campaign Post a Symbol Used by Nazis to Mark Political Prisoners?
In June 2020, United States President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign was criticized for invoking Nazi imagery in a new series of Facebook ads that the campaign later tried to claim featured an anti-fascist symbol. According to Media Matters
Truth or Fiction?→ Is There an ‘Antifa Debit Card’?
A self-professed “targeted individual” on Twitter apparently had his hackles raised by a group of German satiricists enough to try to use their work to gin up fears about “Antifa.” “Ever seen an Antifa debit card that can
Truth or Fiction?→ Who Runs ‘Journalist Excellence Worldwide’?
In early November 2019, the Facebook page “Journalist Excellence Worldwide” began making engagement inroads, with content shared to large groups and newly-viral, unrelated pages. However — no matter how convincing a page might appear at
Truth or Fiction?→ The Anti-Semitic Origins of ‘You Cannot Legislate the Poor Into Prosperity’
A quote attempting to justify largesse that has endured thanks to social media, but not without spreading disinformation about its origins. The statement has commonly been attributed online to evangelical leader Adrian Rogers, a former president of th
Truth or Fiction?→ Nevada Man Charged with Plotting Homophobic and Anti-Semitic Shooting Attacks
A 23-year-old Las Vegas man with a history of associating with white supremacists was indicted on September 17 2019 on a federal weapons charge for allegedly planning mass shooting attacks against both a local synagogue and an LGBTQ bar. According to
Snopes→ House Subpoenas Owner of 8chan Message Board Tied to Mass Killings
A key House committee has subpoenaed the owner of 8chan, an online message board favored by violent white nationalists including the man suspected of killing 22 people in a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas.
Truth or Fiction?→ Is This an Accurate Picture of 2019’s Mass Shooters?
Research in progress. Two days after the August 3 2019 El Paso, Texas mass shooting, in which the suspect expressed a range of violent white supremacist views, an image was posted to Reddit’s r/conspiracy (archived here) purportedly showing a
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
Snopes→ Leaders of White Supremacist Prison Gang Charged in Killings
A total of 16 gang members and associates are accused of running the criminal enterprise using contraband cellphones, encrypted chats, text messages, multimedia messages and email.
Truth or Fiction?→ Is Twitter Withholding a ‘Nazi-Hunting’ Algorithm for Fear of Inadvertently Banning Republican Lawmakers?
On April 25 2019, a Twitter user posted a claim that the social media platform possessed a “Nazi-hunting” algorithm, but opted not to employ it specifically because it would also filter the tweets or accounts of some Republican lawmakers:
Truth or Fiction?→ Is Atlanta Urging People ‘Not to Dump Trash on White Supremacists’ Lawns’?
On April 29 2019, an image of a purported notice from the City of Atlanta urging residents “not to” dump trash on white supremacists’ lawns went viral: yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes
Truth or Fiction?→ Is the ‘OK’ Hand Sign Also American Sign Language for ‘Asshole’?
In March 2019, a Facebook user shared a meme (archived here) which claimed that the “OK sign” hand gesture is both favored by white supremacists, and that it is also American Sign Language for the word “asshole”: The meme̵
Truth or Fiction?→ Is the ‘OK’ Hand Sign Also American Sign Language for ‘Asshole’?
In March 2019, a Facebook user shared a meme (archived here) which claimed that the “OK sign” hand gesture is both favored by white supremacists, and that it is also American Sign Language for the word “asshole”: The meme̵
Truth or Fiction?→ Are Deaths Listed in a ‘2018 Muslim Threat’ Tweet Accurate?
On January 1, 2019, civil rights lawyer and podcast host Qasim Rashid, Esq. tweeted a purported breakdown of the so-called “Muslim threat” relative to other risks to Americans in 2018: 2018 Recap of the “Muslim threat” Americans killed
Snopes→ Jury Recommends Life in Prison for Man Who Rammed Crowd
He was convicted of killing a woman and injuring dozens when he drove his car into counterprotesters at a white nationalist rally in Virginia.
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
Snopes→ Does This Photograph Show Neo-Nazis Posing Under a Burning Swastika in Draketown, Georgia?
An extraordinary photograph from an April 2018 rally re-emerged on social media several months later.
Snopes→ Why Have So Many Daily Caller Writers Expressed White Supremacist Views?
Revelations that Daily Caller writer Scott Greer also published material on a site founded by white supremacist Richard Spencer aren't the first of their kind.
Snopes→ Lawyer Accused of Flashing ‘White Power’ Hand Gesture During Kavanaugh Hearing
Zina Bash's husband said claims that she was making the gesture equate to a "vicious conspiracy theory."
Snopes→ Does This Video Show Six Antifa Members Beating Up a Person During an August 2018 Rally?
A year-old video showing a group of Antifascists beating up a right-wing activists in Berkeley, California, was reshared as if it showed a recent incident in Washington D.C.
Snopes→ Did an Iowa Congressman Retweet a White Supremacist?
Rep. Steve King engaged in yet another round of white nationalist speech on his Twitter account.
Snopes→ Is the Florida Mass Shooter a Member of a White Supremacist Group?
There is no evidence to date that the confessed school shooter belongs to any organized hate group, although he reportedly expressed white supremacist views online.
Snopes→ Former American Nazi Party Leader Is Likely GOP Nominee in Illinois Congressional Race
White supremacist Arthur Jones is the only Republican candidate for the Third Congressional District in the state's 20 March primary.