A routine review of content labeled satire.
Snopes→ Is Columbia University Planning Graduation Ceremonies Based on Race, Background?
It is common for higher education institutions to organize various events in celebration of the annual milestone.
AFP Fact Check→ Math doesn’t add up in claim every American could get $1 million payment
Social media posts claim the $1.9 trillion pandemic relief act includes enough money to pay every American $1 million, and there would still be funds to spare. This is false; it would cost more than $300 trillion for all of the country’s citizens to
Snopes→ Did Democrats Add Immediate Vaccines for ‘3 Million Illegals’ to Stimulus Bill?
A routine review of content labeled satire.
Snopes→ Did Tucker Carlson Say He Can’t Go to Restaurants Without Being Harassed?
The Fox News host reportedly feels comfortable dining in only one restaurant in D.C.
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Meghan Markle Could be Running for President in 2024’
A pair of posts in March 2021 illustrated how a narrative can be laundered across several blogs — in this case, one of the many attempts to speculate about Meghan Markle’s possible goals after her departure from an active role in the Britis
Snopes→ Did Gavin Newsom Dine in Napa with Lobbyists During COVID?
A picture from a dinner at the posh French Laundry restaurant showed the California governor mask-less while standing away from the table.
Snopes→ Does AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine Cause Blood Clots?
As of this writing, 37 cases of blood clots were reported out of the 17 million people who have received the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
AllSides→ Amazon Is Pushing Readers Down A “Rabbit Hole” Of Conspiracy Theories About The Coronavirus
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/amazon-covid-conspiracy-books Conspiracy theorist D
Full Fact→ Clapham protester is not same woman injured in Parsons Green Tube attack
It has been claimed in a post shared hundreds of times on Facebook that a woman who was arrested during the vigil for Sarah Everard on Clapham Common in March 2021 is the same woman who was injured during an attack on a London Underground train in Pars
Snopes→ Yaphet Kotto of ‘Live and Let Die,’ ‘Alien,’ Dies at 81
“He’s one of those actors who deserved more than the parts he got,” wrote director Ava Duvernay on Twitter. “But he took those parts and made them wonderful all the same.”
AFP Fact Check→ Neither Tiwa Savage nor the Kuti brothers were among the winners at the 63rd Grammy Awards
Social media posts in Nigeria claim that Tiwa Savage, one of Nigeria’s leading female artists, and Femi and Made Kuti, sons of the late Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti, were winners at the 63rd Grammy Awards. This is false; while all three were up for no
Snopes→ Israeli Experts Announce Discovery of More Dead Sea Scrolls
The fragments of parchment bear lines of Greek text from the books of Zechariah and Nahum and have been dated around the first century based on the writing style, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority.
Snopes→ Encrypted Messaging App Signal Blocked in China
Users in China said that they could not get the app to connect without a VPN service. Messages failed to send and calls did not go through.
Snopes→ Did a Fuel Expert Predict $8 Gas Prices Under Biden?
A routine review of content labeled satire.
Snopes→ Ronald DeFeo, Convicted Killer in ‘Amityville Horror’ Case, Dies
The 1974 killings perpetuated by DeFeo inspired the horror franchise.
AFP Fact Check→ The fish caught in a Nigerian village is not worth millions of dollars
Social media posts shared thousands of times claim that a man in Nigeria caught a fish worth $2.6 million, and his village ate the fish instead of cashing in. However, the value of this fish is hugely overestimated. The $2.6 million figure can be trace
Poynter→ How a journalist turned media consultant wants to bring the news explainers to high schoolers
Andrew Springer has spent a lot of time thinking about what Gen Z wants out of news. As a journalist, he’s led social media teams at NBC News, ABC News, “Good Morning America,” and Mashable. At NBC News, Springer developed and created “Stay Tun
Logically→ Tokyo Olympics 2021 has been canceled.
The International Olympic Committee clarified that the news about the Tokyo Olympics being canceled is untrue, and the games would be held in 2021.
AFP Fact Check→ Social media posts falsely claim link between AstraZeneca Covid-19 jab and Australian minister’s skin infection
A claim that Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt has suffered cellulitis caused by an AstraZeneca Covid-19 jab has been shared hundreds of times on Facebook and Twitter. The claim is false: according to medical experts, cellulitis is a skin infectio
Poynter→ 15 of PolitiFact’s weirdest COVID-19 fact checks
The novel coronavirus is no laughing matter. Over the past year, it has killed more than 500,000 Americans, shuttered schools and workplaces, caused an economic recession, and strained the health care system. Throughout the pandemic, disinforma
AFP Fact Check→ Misleading social media posts circulate claiming a Covid-19 vaccination centre in Jakarta is open to all
A claim circulating on Facebook says that a Covid-19 vaccination centre in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta is open to everyone with an Indonesian ID card. The claim is false: the programme is only open for the elderly and employees of state-run c
AFP Fact Check→ Doctored news report falsely claims Philippine government shut down transportation in March 2021 to curb rising Covid-19 cases
As Covid-19 infections surge in the Philippines, multiple Facebook posts have shared a purported news graphic that states the government is shutting down all transportation in and out of Manila for a month beginning March 15, 2021. The claim is false:
Washington Post→ Biden’s repeated invocation of ‘7 million jobs’ created by his economic plan
Most of the time, Biden gets his talking point right. But he flubbed it on March 12.
AllSides→ The Air Force introduced maternity flight duty uniforms before Biden took office
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/mar/10/blog-posting/air-force-introduced-maternity-flight-duty-uniform/
Snopes→ Did Dog Rescue Linked to Lara Trump Funnel $225K to the Former President?
Big Dog Ranch Rescue has been holding fundraisers at Mar-a-Lago for years.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Benadryl Is NOT An Effective Or Helpful Treatment For Venomous Snakebite
Is Benadryl a helpful first-aid treatment for venomous snakebites? No, that's not true: This anecdote about using Benadryl as a part of first-aid care for a person who has been bitten by a venomous snake is not supported by evidence or th
Snopes→ Did ‘No Makeup’ Photo of Jennifer Aniston ‘Confirm Rumors’?
Online advertisers have run out of ideas.
Truth or Fiction?→ PragerU ‘Racism = Bad’ Graphic
On March 13 2021, the Facebook page Comrade Britney shared the following Gravel Institute (@GravelInstitute) tweet from one day prior, depicting a purported PragerU graphic describing “leftist logic” as “racism = bad”: HmmR
Snopes→ Was Richard Nixon the Original Gerber Baby?
If there's one thing we've learned from watching "Futurama," it's that you just can't trust Zapp Brannigan.
Snopes→ Major European Nations Suspend Use of AstraZeneca Vaccine
A cascading number of European countries — including Germany, France, Italy, and Spain — suspended use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine over reports of dangerous blood clots in some recipients.
Snopes→ San Diego Driver Arrested After Killing 3 People, Injuring 6 Others
The driver was identified only as a 71-year-old man.
Snopes→ Did Netflix Send Test Warning to Customers About Sharing Passwords?
Netflix, chill.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: COVID-19 Vaccines Are NOT ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’
Are COVID-19 vaccines "weapons of mass destruction"? No, that's not true: There's no public evidence the vaccines put the future of mankind at risk. To the contrary, medical authorities widely agree the vaccines represent one of our best
Health Feedback→ Oxygen in the air doesn’t prevent people from getting tetanus through cuts with dirty or rusty objects; the vaccine is important to prevent infection
REVIEW On 7 March 2021, a video discussing the causes and consequences of tetanus was posted on Facebook by chiropractor Steven Baker, who runs the Facebook page named “Dr. Baker2.0”. The video makes several claims that are inaccurate or
Snopes→ Is Chinese Furniture Maker Selling a Trump Buddha Statue?
The description of the alleged product says, "Make your company great again!"
Snopes→ Did the Mickelsen Safeguard Complex Close After One Day?
According to a rumor from a TikTok video, the military's Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex had something to do with "the illuminati."
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Banks Collected More than $30 BILLION in Overdraft Fees in 2020’
On March 11 2021, the Facebook page “Memes to Radicalize Your Friends” shared an undated screenshot of a tweet by @katmauvearts, which contained the claim that banks collected had collected a total of $30 billion in overdraft fees from Amer
Snopes→ Does a Pic Show Sunset on Mars?
NASA has taken several genuine photographs of the Martian sunset.
AFP Fact Check→ These photos show a small house in Vietnam
Multiple Facebook posts have shared photos they claim show a house built on the smallest plot of land in Sri Lanka. However, the claim is false: the images in fact show a house in Vietnam.