Does a doctor share evidence of vaccine harm to an Ohio school board? No, that's not true: A man who appeared at a school board meeting in Ohio repeated multiple COVID-19 vaccine conspiracy theories that Lead Stories has previously debunk
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Yale Professor, Ivermectin Maker Say The Horse Dewormer Is NOT Proven Effective Against COVID-19 — Mississippi Hospitalized Man After Dose
Has ivermectin been proven a safe and life-saving treatment for COVID-19? No, that's not true: The manufacturer of the drug, Merck, says its scientists find no evidence ivermectin works as a COVID-19 treatment and are concerned by the lac
Snopes→ Did Tucker Carlson Say This About Nebraska Man’s Death to Stoke COVID Vaccine Fears?
The claim appeared to stem from former U.S. Democratic Sen. Al Franken, who hasn't yet returned our request for comment.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO Evidence of The FBI Ever Releasing A Study Ranking ‘Most Dangerous Zodiac Signs’
Did the Federal Bureau of Investigation release a study ranking zodiac signs in terms of "dangerousness"? No, that's not true: This is a recycled hoax that has circulated in blog posts as far back as 2017. There is also no publicly availa
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: More Than 75 Doctors Did NOT ‘Walk Out Of A South Florida Hospital Rather Than Treat The Unvaccinated’ — It Was A Demonstration
Did more than 75 doctors walk out of a south Florida hospital rather than treat unvaccinated COVID-19 patients? No, that's not true: The event was not a "walkout," as the doctors did not interrupt their workday to gather for what one part
Snopes→ Was the State Department Charging Americans $2K for Flights out of Afghanistan?
Chaotic evacuation efforts were underway amidst the Taliban takeover.
Snopes→ Did Stallone ‘Keep’ the Turtles from ‘Rocky’?
Red-eared sliders can live for decades, as these ones have.
Snopes→ Are Toasters Prohibited at Trump Rallies?
Toast, on the other hand, appears to be allowed.
Snopes→ Did NBC Report Vaccinated People Have Higher Levels of SARS-CoV-2?
Memes claimed that vaccinated people were therefore contributing to the mid-summer COVID-19 surge.
Health Feedback→ Janci Chunn Lindsay’s claims that COVID-19 vaccines are unsafe are inaccurate and unsupported by scientific evidence
REVIEW In early August 2021, several posts (see examples here, here, and here) claiming that COVID-19 vaccination will cause fertility problems, blood clotting, and increase the chances that the virus bypasses previous immunity to it (immune escape)
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Soviet Union Did NOT Take All Of Its Military Equipment From Afghanistan After the Soviet-Afghan War
Did the Soviet Union take all of its military equipment from Afghanistan after the Soviet-Afghan War? No, that's not true: Some of the Soviet equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan after the Soviets withdrew from the country. Even further
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Thatcher Effect’
In August 2021, an October 2018 post about the “Thatcher effect” and “thatcherized images” spread on Facebook, from a post originally shared by a New Hampshire-based optometrist’s office. It read: The Thatcher Effect. T
Snopes→ Igor Vovkovinskiy, Tallest Man in US, Dies in Minnesota
When he was 27, Vovkovinskiy traveled to New York City and was declared America’s tallest living person by a Guinness World Records adjudicator.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: California Ballot Envelopes DO Contain Holes — But Voter Information Is Protected
Do California ballots have holes in them so that others can see how someone voted? No, that's not true: A spokesperson for California's secretary of state told Lead Stories that the holes in ballot envelopes were included to aid Californi
Truth or Fiction?→ Uncensored Library in Minecraft
On August 23 2021, an Imgur user shared the following meme, which describes a “censored library” that exists within the game Minecraft and explaining its purpose within the popular video game: Text at the bottom of the meme read: There i
Logically→ Wearing a face mask can cause cancer.
There is no evidence that wearing face masks causes decreased oxygen levels leading to cancer.
Snopes→ Did Taliban Recreate Iwo Jima Photo?
This photograph came from a "graduation" event of a Taliban group called Badri 313.
AllSides→ Did Biden Nominate the First Gay Federal Appeals Court Judge?
https://factcheck.thedispatch.com/p/did-biden-nominate-the-first-gay An article from the Associated P
Snopes→ Jesse Jackson and His Wife Test Positive for COVID-19
The civil rights activist had been vaccinated in January 2021.
Full Fact→ Missing girl ‘news article’ is harvesting Facebook logins
A link to a website being shared on Facebook claims that a little girl called Alice has been kidnapped and asks readers if they recognise the suspect caught on video. This is not a genuine case, but a scam which demands readers’ Facebook logins t
AllSides→ FactChecking Biden’s Statements About Afghanistan
https://www.factcheck.org/2021/08/factchecking-bidens-statements-about-afghanistan/ Since the Taliban s
Snopes→ US Regulators Give Full Approval to Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine
The U.S. becomes the first country to fully approve the shot.
Logically→ Muslim migrants from Syria are invading Europe and destroying countries.
Xenophobic rhetoric is regularly attached to innocent Syrian migrants seeking asylum in European nations.
Snopes→ As Cuomo Exits, Hochul to Take Office Minus ‘Distractions’
Hochul was scheduled be sworn in as New York’s first female governor just after midnight in a brief, private ceremony overseen by the state’s chief judge, Janet DiFiore.
Snopes→ 22 Dead, Many Missing After 17 Inches of Rain in Tennessee
Many of the missing live in the neighborhoods where the water rose the fastest, said Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis, who confirmed the 22 fatalities in his county.
Logically→ America is responsible for the destruction of buildings in Homs, Syria.
The two images circulating are from different countries. Buildings in Homs were destroyed when government planes struck rebel-held districts in 2013.
Logically→ The Publishers Clearing House Award Winnings promotion is a scam.
Many scammers have conned people under the alias of Publishers Clearing House.
Poynter→ COVID-19 vaccination does not violate the Nuremberg Code
A man calling himself the “vaccine police” posted a video on Facebook making unsubstantiated claims about COVID-19 vaccines and the people administering them at a Walmart pharmacy in Missouri. The video uploaded on Aug. 16 runs for more t
Washington Post→ Biden’s claim that nation-building in Afghanistan ‘never made any sense to me’
Biden's position has evolved over two decades in ways that he does not easily acknowledge.
Snopes→ Radio Host Who Regretted Vaccine Skepticism Dies of COVID
Nashville radio station SuperTalk 99.7 WTN confirmed Phil Valentine’s death in a tweet.
Snopes→ U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls Tests Positive for COVID-19
Nehls, a Republican from the Houston area, said that he is fully vaccinated and hopes the symptoms pass soon.
Logically→ The Australian government is going to seize 24,000 children and place them in a stadium quarantine camp to be forcibly vaccinated.
Several articles misconstrued an announcement made by public health officials in the state of New South Wales, earlier in August 2021.
Snopes→ Parents Get Coached on How to Escape Mask and Vaccine Rules
An Oregon school superintendent is telling parents they can get their children out of wearing masks by citing federal disability law.
Snopes→ Winds Threaten to Fan Destructive California Wildfire
Thousands of homes remained under threat in communities tucked away in scenic forests and tens of thousands of people remain under evacuation orders.
Snopes→ Congressman Barry Moore, Wife Test Positive for COVID-19
The congressman disclosed the diagnosis in a post on social media.
Snopes→ Kentucky Supreme Court Reins in Gov. Beshear’s Efforts to Combat COVID-19
The ruling revolves around a dispute between Beshear and the GOP-led legislature over the scope of the governor’s executive authority in times of emergencies.
Snopes→ Biden Sees Dip in Support Amid New COVID Cases: AP-NORC Poll
President Joe Biden is facing a summer slump, with Americans taking a notably less positive view of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and his job approval rating ticking down.
Snopes→ Hurricane Henri: What to Know As Rare Cyclone Heads North
Henri strengthened into a hurricane — and will perhaps become New England’s first in 30 years.
Snopes→ New Girl Scout Cookie Flavor Will Have Chocolate Lovers Drooling
The "Adventurefuls" cookie is said to evoke the “adventures Girl Scouts go on through the organization.”
Snopes→ What Does ‘Glurge’ Mean?
The term "glurge" has been with us since the mid-1990s.