A viral meme about the "Spanish flu" pandemic gets some general points right, but the presented timeline is inaccurate.
Search Results (6020) for: viral
Truth or Fiction?→ Facebook Activity for Right-Wing ‘Gridlock’ Protests Surges
Facebook groups supporting or organizing anti-government protests continued to appear on the platform in mid-April 2020, despite the platform reportedly shuttering at least two such events. We found several groups using the “Operation Gridlock
Snopes→ Facebook to Warn Users Who ‘Liked’ Coronavirus Hoaxes
Facebook will let you know if you shared or interacted with dangerous coronavirus misinformation on the site, the latest in a string of aggressive efforts the social media giant is taking to contain an outbreak of viral falsehoods.
Snopes→ Is This ‘Shaun of the Dead’ Meme Mocking Real Ohio Protesters?
A viral photograph from a protest against stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic was likened to the zombie movie "Shaun of the Dead."
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Amazon’s Alexa Does NOT Say ‘The Government’ Released Coronavirus
Does Amazon's Alexa speaker say that "the government" released the coronavirus? No, that's not true: The Alexa app/device does not say that the government -- any government -- planned, created and released COVID-19, which has resulted in more
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Pelosi Did NOT Delete Tweet Of Video Urging Visits To Chinatown During COVID-19
Did House Speaker Nancy Pelosi delete a February 24, 2020, video of herself from Twitter in which she encouraged people to visit Chinatown in San Francisco? No, that's not true: she never sent out a tweet of the video despite President Trump c
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: A Barcode Does NOT Tell You A Product’s Country Of Origin
Can a barcode tell you what a product's country of origin is? No, that's not true: That claim is misleading. A barcode for a product really only reveals where the person or company that purchased the barcode is from; it does not reveal the whe
FactCheck.org→ Alex Trebek Did Not Die — or Leave Millions to Trump Campaign
Quick Take A viral news article falsely reports that “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek died on April 14, leaving his estate to President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign. Trebek, who has been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, is
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Michigan Governor Did NOT Violate State’s Social Distancing Order; TV Station Used File Footage
Did Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer violate the state's social distancing order at the same time she was signing the stay-at-home orders? No, that's not true: A TV news report used file footage from January 2019 of a completely different bill s
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: CDC Did NOT Confess To Lying About COVID-19 Death Numbers
Did the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confess to lying about COVID-19 death numbers? No, that's not true: The headline inaccurately suggests that the CDC made a "confession." Instead, a viral video offered one doctor's allegation
FactCheck.org→ FactChecking Trump’s Attack on the WHO
In announcing that his administration would halt funding for the World Health Organization, President Donald Trump made a series of false, misleading and unsubstantiated claims about the WHO: Trump inaccurately said the WHO stated that the novel coron
FactCheck.org→ Reports Didn’t Misrepresent One Man’s Death as Two
Quick Take A bogus meme on Facebook suggests that the news media has tried to pass off one man’s death, attributed to complications from COVID-19, as two separate cases. But the headlines cited simply focused on different parts of his biography.
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Kellyanne Conway Say ‘This Isn’t COVID-1, Folks’ on Fox News?
On April 15 2020, a viral tweet asserted Trump White House advisor Kellyanne Conway appeared on Fox News, stating “this isn’t COVID-1” when discussing challenges posed by the novel coronavirus and COVID-19: Kellyanne Conway: "
Truth or Fiction?→ Will ‘Nebulized Hydrogen Peroxide’ Help You Avoid Contracting COVID-19?
A self-proclaimed “health activist” with a history of incurring warnings over his practices from the federal government used Twitter to push another questionable treatment idea involving COVID-19 (also called SARS-CoV-2 or “the coron
FactCheck.org→ Conspiracy Theory Misinterprets Goals of Gates Foundation
Quick Take A conspiracy theory falsely claims Bill Gates is plotting to use COVID-19 testing and a future vaccine to track people with microchips. The Gates Foundation has advocated for expanded testing and has funded vaccine research, but neither of t
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Soap And Hand Sanitizer Can’t Be Used to Kill Coronavirus Inside Your Body
Why is it so difficult to kill the novel coronavirus once it is inside of the body, especially since simple soap and sanitizer can kill it outside the body? A meme that went viral asks just that question. While medical officials do recommend s
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Choose’ or ‘Pick’ Your ‘Quarantine House’ and Other Engagement Bait During COVID-19
Chances are in early April 2020 you saw many “choose your quarantine house” or “pick your quarantine house” memes on social media, the global pandemic version of “would you live in a cabin with no wifi for a month for a m
Truth or Fiction?→ Is This a Photograph of Someone’s Kitchen After Microwaving Coronavirus Masks?
On April 7 2020 — in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic — a post began spreading on Facebook, warning people against microwaving face masks to sterilize them (alongside a photograph of the aftermath of a kitchen fire): Please don’t pass
FactCheck.org→ Trump Falsely Distorts New York Times COVID-19 Science Story
In a weekend tweet, President Donald Trump erroneously described a New York Times article, falsely stating that it said the coronavirus originated in Europe and suggesting that it had no named sources. The story, which reported on new genomic analyses
FactCheck.org→ TV News Report Prompts Unfounded Attacks on Michigan Governor
Quick Take A TV station’s report on a Michigan fine for those violating the state’s social distancing orders showed Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at a signing ceremony with an intimate crowd of people — prompting accusations of hypocrisy on s
Snopes→ Did Bill O’Reilly Write an Essay Calling COVID-19 a Chinese Bioweapon?
A viral essay attributed to the former Fox News host has murky origins.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Pentagon Did NOT Confirm Coronavirus Accidentally Got Into Chemtrail Supply Chain
Did the Pentagon confirm that the novel coronavirus accidentally got into the chemtrail supply chain? No, that's not true: The site publishing the claim creates satirical content for aviation buffs (think The Aviation Geek Club meets The Onion
Truth or Fiction?→ Coronavirus ‘Memo from a Grocery Store Manager’
An April 7 2020 Facebook post — purportedly a message from an overworked grocery store manager — racked up over half a million shares in just a few days. The post, accompanied by an image of (what looked to be pre-COVID-19 pandemic) superm
FactCheck.org→ Yes, Sanders Has Ended His Fight for Democratic Nomination
Quick Take Social media posts falsely claim the news media is spreading “prop[a]ganda” and “twisting words” about Sen. Bernie Sanders’ decision to suspend his presidential campaign. They claim he is “still in the rac
Truth or Fiction?→ Did a Swiss Town Project the Union Jack Onto the Matterhorn to Show COVID-19 Solidarity?
In early April 2020, images of the United Kingdom’s flag projected onto the Matterhorn began circulating — striking photographs that appeared to perhaps be of questionable veracity: The town of #Zermatt in #Switzerland projecting the Un
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: New Data Does NOT Reveal That 21 Million Chinese Died Of Coronavirus
Did new intelligence data reveal that 21 million people died in China from December 2019 to March 2020 due to the novel coronavirus? No, that's not true: An online article being shared uses a statistic about a drop in cellphone users to make a
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: YouTube Video DOES Accurately Describe How COVID-19 Can Kill
Does a video on YouTube purporting to describe the role of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome in COVID-19 accurately depict how one can die from the disease? Yes, that's true, experts say, as the video's overarching message -- that people mus
FactCheck.org→ Trump’s Snowballing China Travel Claim
In early March, President Donald Trump said that restrictions he placed on travel to and from China “saved a lot of lives,” a claim that grew to “probably tens of thousands” and “hundreds of thousands” by early April
Truth or Fiction?→ Does Using the ‘African Method’ Help Avoid Contracting COVID-19?
Stories about people beating COVID-19 through “traditional” remedies continue to spread online in spite of warnings from health officials. For example, a post from news site NewsOne features what it claims is a “viral video.”
FactCheck.org→ False Claim of Deadly Coronavirus Vaccine Trial in Africa
Quick Take Posts across social media are falsely claiming that a vaccine trial for the novel coronavirus in Senegal resulted in the death of seven children. The video behind those claims does not show that. And there is no clinical trial for a potentia
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Top German Doctor Did NOT Seriously Recommend Whiskey to Protect Against COVID-19
Did German virologist Jürgen Rissland seriously recommend drinking whiskey as protection against COVID-19? No, that's not true: A TV segment from German public broadcaster SWR did show Rissland jokingly making remarks about drinking whiskey a
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Biden Photo Does NOT Show Him Groping Woman’s Breasts
Did former Vice President Joe Biden grope a woman's breasts in a 2013 photo they took at a Christmas gathering? No, that's not true: The image of Biden supposedly "groping" a female reporter's breasts was doctored. The presumptive Democratic n
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘COVID-19 Had Us All Fooled, but Now We Might Have Finally Found Its Secret’ Medium Post
In early April 2020, a post published to Medium.com circulated on social media, titled “Covid-19 had us all fooled, but now we might have finally found its secret.” The post went viral in archived and replicated form even after the site re
FactCheck.org→ Social Media Posts Make Baseless Claim on COVID-19 Death Toll
Quick Take Viral posts wrongly suggest that the COVID-19 death toll is exaggerated because “the state” has instructed that “anyone who didnt die by a gun shot wound or car accident” be listed as a coronavirus victim. Experts say
Truth or Fiction?→ Spanish Flu 1918 Family Portrait Shows Cat with Face Mask
In early April 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised COVID-19 guidance and advised Americans to wear face masks, reviving interest in a viral photograph — purportedly a family portrait from the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic th
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Coronavirus Will NOT Simply Be ‘Exterminated’ If Lockdowns Are Lifted
Would allowing everyone, except the most vulnerable, to go on with their lives and forget about the lockdown put an end to the COVID-19 outbreak? No, that's not a safe assumption: The notion of "herd immunity," the idea that letting large numb
FactCheck.org→ The HHS Inspector General Report
In a testy exchange with reporters, President Donald Trump questioned the political motivations of an administration inspector general, claiming that her report on hospital experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic was “wrong.” The report ga
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Mammoth Unemployment Claims in Their Historical Context’ GIF
In early April 2020, the animated image below spread on Facebook and Twitter, bearing the label “U.S. Weekly Initial Jobless Claims (thousands, seasonally adjusted)”; no source for the shocking graph was immediately available. Blurry text
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: COVID-19 Is NOT A Hoax Proven By Empty Hospital Lots, Waiting Rooms
Are hospitals around the country empty -- not overwhelmed by coronavirus patients in desperate need of life-saving care or testing? No, that's not true: A viral video claims to provide evidence that media coverage of the pandemic isn't true --
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: COVID-19 Is NOT A Hoax Proven By Empty Hospital Lots, Waiting Rooms
Are hospitals around the country empty -- not overwhelmed by coronavirus patients in desperate need of life-saving care or testing? No, that's not true: A viral video claims to provide evidence that media coverage of the pandemic isn't true --