SciCheck Digest In a viral video, an Indiana physician baselessly claimed that the COVID-19 vaccines, which have been shown to be safe and effective, “fight the virus wrong and let the virus become worse than it would with native infection.”
Snopes→ Mississippi Back Near High for COVID Hospitalizations
Mississippi is approaching its pandemic high for COVID-19 hospitalizations as the coronavirus continues spreading rapidly in a state with one of the lowest vaccination rates in the U.S.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: It Is NOT True PCR Test Failed To Distinguish Flu From COVID And That CDC Dropped FDA Application Because Of Errors
Did the CDC's PCR test fail to distinguish flu from COVID and did it cause errors in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tallies by which the agency tracked the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infections? No, that's not true. The claim was ma
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Several New Pieces of Evidence Link Mike Lindell’s Election Data and Videos To Accused Con Man Dennis L. Montgomery
After Mike Lindell's appearance on the April 28, 2021, "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" show, Lead Stories published a story titled "Attention Mike Lindell: What You May Want To Know About The 'Data' Used In Your Stolen Election Claims" that traced s
The Dispatch→ Does the CDC Have a Plan to Put High-Risk Individuals in Camps?
Right-wing provocateur and frequent source of misinformation Candace Owens claimed in a recent viral tweet that the CDC “actually put together a document to discuss putting high risk people into camps to ‘shield’ low risk people from
Snopes→ Chicago Target Employees Allegedly Run in Fear of Possible Shooter, Viral TikTok Video Shows
The same TikTok user who posted the viral video later said that no one was hurt in the incident.
Truth or Fiction?→ Campground Sign ‘Translated for Teenagers’
On August 9 2021, a Facebook post depicting a campground’s “text us” sign and a “teenager translation” went viral; iterations of the image were popular across social media: Every variation of the images of the signs we we
Snopes→ No, a Canadian Court ‘Victory’ Didn’t Prove COVID ‘Is a Hoax’
A viral video is spreading false information about the pandemic on social media.
Snopes→ Did Lionel Messi Officially Sign for Paris Saint-Germain?
Rumors and speculation surrounded the future of the Argentine soccer star, one of the greatest of all time, in August 2021.
Truth or Fiction?→ San Diego Sheriff Admits No Doctor Verified ‘Overdose’ Claim in Viral Video
San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore admitted on August 10 2021 that no medical professionals were involved in the making of a heavily-criticized video his department has claimed showed a deputy “overdosing” on fentanyl. According to the San
Snopes→ No, Kathy Hochul Is Not Nancy Pelosi’s Stepsister
As the New York lieutenant governor's name circulated on social media, so did misinformation.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Vaccinated And Unvaccinated People Do NOT Face The Same Risks From COVID-19
Do vaccinated and unvaccinated people face the same risks from COVID-19? No, that's not true: People who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 have substantially better outcomes. They are much less likely than unvaccinated people to get s
Snopes→ Prince Andrew Faces No Good Choice in Epstein Accuser Case
Britain’s Prince Andrew is likely to do anything he can to avoid giving evidence in a U.S. lawsuit filed by an American woman who alleges that he sexually assaulted her when she was 17, lawyers on both sides of the Atlantic say.
Snopes→ Hospitals Run Low on Nurses As They Get Swamped with COVID
Some patients wait inside ambulances for up to an hour before hospitals in St. Petersburg, Florida, can admit them.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: "2020 Election Data" Video Centerpiece Of Lindell Cyber Symposium Has Identical Data For Pennsylvania and Wisconsin
Does a blurry video posted to Mike Lindell's Frankspeech.com show internally consistent evidence of election fraud? No, that's not true: the (clearer) screenshot that serves as the thumbnail image for the video shows identical data for Pe
Snopes→ China’s Wandering Elephants May Finally Be Heading Home
Despite their entrance into villages and a close approach to the Yunnan provincial capital of Kunming, no animals or humans have been injured.
Poynter→ The Mongolian Fact Check Center fights misinformation in a country where the word doesn’t exist
When the Mongolian Fact Check Center began in March 2020 to expand the fact-checking movement to Mongolia’s populace, it also exposed founder and editor-in-chief Dulamkhorloo Baatar to a new set of standards for fact-checking. While she had done basi
Snopes→ 14-Year-Old Becomes Youngest to Swim Length of Lake Tahoe
James Savage of Los Banos completed the trip across the scenic lake in 12 hours on Aug. 1.
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘The Starlight Barking’
On August 6 2021, the Facebook page “Premium Internet Curation” shared screenshots of a Twitter thread, the latter pertaining to The Starlight Barking — a purportedly bizarre sequel to the book from which 101 Dalmatians was adapted
Snopes→ ‘Modern Family’ Medicine: Bowen, Sister Help Injured Woman
A woman who fainted and hit her head on a rock after stopping to rest in Utah's Arches National Park woke up to hear a familiar voice and wondered if she might be watching television.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Fully Vaccinated Individuals In Italy Did NOT Burn Their COVID-19 ‘Green’ Certification Passes In Solidarity With Unvaccinated Individuals — There’s No Paper Pass
Did individuals in Italy who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 burn their vaccine "passes" in solidarity with unvaccinated individuals? No, that's not true: Italy's COVID-19 "green" certification is a digital pass -- not a green piece
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Voltaire Did NOT Say ‘To Learn Who Rules Over You, Simply Find Out Who You Are Not Allowed To Criticize’
Did French philosopher Voltaire say, "To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize"? No, that's not true: Two academic authorities on Voltaire told Lead Stories the words were not those of the French w
Snopes→ Did the Movie ‘Young Frankenstein’ Inspire Title of Aerosmith’s ‘Walk This Way’?
Rumor has it the rock band found an unlikely inspiration in the 1974 Mel Brooks comedy.
AllSides→ Senators press Facebook for answers about why it cut off misinformation researchers
https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/09/facebook-klobuchar-warner-letter-nyu-ad-observatory/ Facebook’s dec
Snopes→ Is New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Resigning?
Cuomo had resisted calls to resign.
Snopes→ Did Netflix Announce Catherine Zeta-Jones Joined ‘Addams Family’ Series ‘Wednesday’?
The eight-episode series will center around the Addams family's morbid anti-hero daughter Wednesday.
Snopes→ Did Schwarzenegger Urge People to Trust Experts on COVID-19?
"If you're house is on fire, you don't go to YouTube, you call the damn fire department."
Snopes→ Big Win for $1T Infrastructure Bill: Senate Shows It Can Act
The 69-30 tally provides momentum for this first phase of Biden’s “Build Back Better” priorities, now headed to the House.
Full Fact→ Why it’s unlikely Geronimo the alpaca’s TB test gave a false positive
Environment secretary George Eustice has been criticised for an article he wrote in the Mail on Sunday about an alpaca due to be culled after testing positive for bovine tuberculosis (bTB). The alpaca named Geronimo first tested positive in 2017, but h
Full Fact→ The Pfizer vaccine, teenagers and myocarditis
A video on Facebook with thousands of views makes a number of claims about children and the Covid-19 Pfizer vaccine. A voice in the video says: “In children between the age of 12 to 17 year old that took the Pfizer vaccine, we have 9,246 adverse
Full Fact→ What extra expenses can MPs claim if they have children
We’ve been asked by readers to check a viral claim on Twitter that says: “The £5,435 an MP gets to feed *each* of their children (on top of their salary) is more than the £3,087.96 a Universal Credit claimant gets each year.&rdq
Snopes→ Did the Company That Makes McFlurry Machines Get Hit with a Restraining Order?
Gizmodo captured a development in a "right to repair" lawsuit with the McHeadline "McFlurry Machine Company Just Got Hit With a McRestraining Order."
Snopes→ Crime Historian Conducts Dig for D.B. Cooper Case Evidence
The case of D.B. Cooper has become infamous, not only in the Pacific Northwest but also in the country.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Here’s How You Can Make Your Own "Mike Lindell Packet Capture Video"
In a video (archived here) published on Frankspeech on July 24, 2021 titled "Mike Lindell Releases First Packet Captures Ahead Of August 10, 11 and 12 Cyber Symposium", Mike Lindell showed a snippet of video claiming it showed packet capt
Full Fact→ Headlines exaggerate danger of hydrogen boilers
A front-page article in the Telegraph, and reports in several other papers including the Sun, Mirror and MailOnline, as well as specialist publication Recharge, claim that hydrogen boilers pose a greater risk than conventional gas boilers and could cau
Snopes→ Actor Christina Applegate Announces Multiple Sclerosis Diagnosis
The "Anchorman" and "Dead to Me" star said "it's been a tough road," in an announcement made on Twitter in August 2021.
FactCheck.org→ Video: Irish Professor Makes Unfounded Claims About Long-Term Effects of mRNA Vaccines
Our latest video with Univision Noticias addresses baseless claims made by an Irish professor about the long-term effects of the mRNA vaccines. The mRNA vaccines authorized for use in the U.S. against COVID-19 represent a new vaccine platform, but the
Lead Stories→ Mike Lindell’s Cyber Symposium Started: We’re Looking For These Answers About His Promised Election Fraud Evidence
Will the materials Mike Lindell releases at his Cyber Symposium meet evidentiary standards of authenticity to support his claim the 2020 election was stolen? Here's how Lead Stories will test the data: By asking the questions we sent to h
Snopes→ US Turns to Social Media Influencers to Boost Vaccine Rates
It’s part of a growing U.S. state- and city-based movement using local social media influencers to reach the most vaccine-hesitant at a neighborhood level.
Poynter→ There’s no truth that VAERS system shows 6,000 ‘died because of’ COVID vaccines
A TikTok video liked more than 936,000 times claims that COVID-19 vaccines have killed some 6,000 people in the United States. “The Vaccine Adverse Event Recording System shows that 5,946 people have died because of the vaccine,” the user s