Before we ring in 2023, we look back at the most popular articles that we posted to our website in 2022. For the third consecutive year, COVID-19 tops our list. Nine of the 10 most popular articles were about the pandemic. And most of those were fa
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Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Man Was NOT Attacking People In Multiple Cities — The Post Is Spam, Meant To Trick People To Share
Was a 25-year-old man attacking people in multiple cities across the United States? No, that's not true: The alarming claim is spam, meant to trick people into sharing the post. The post is an example of a common -- and deceptive -- metho
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Elon Musk Did NOT File A Billion Dollars In Lawsuits Against ‘Totally Unprepared’ Kathy Griffin
Did Elon Musk file a billion dollars in lawsuits against "totally unprepared" Kathy Griffin? No, that's not true: The site that posted the story and a "Fact Check" follow-up is satirical. There are clearly marked disclaimers on the websit
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Lionel Messi’s Face Will NOT Be Featured On Argentine Banknote After World Cup Victory
Will the likeness of Lionel Messi, captain of Argentina's national soccer team, be featured on an Argentine 1,000 pesos banknote after the team's win at the 2022 World Cup? No, that's not true: There is no evidence at the time of this wri
The Dispatch→ Fact Check: Did Charlie Hebdo Publish an Issue Mocking Volodymyr Zelensky?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (Photo by Genya Savilov/AFP/Getty Images.) A fake, mock-up cover image of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo is circulating online. The fabricated cover is of a supposed special holiday issue of the publi
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Elon Musk Did NOT Announce He Would Run For President, As Of December 24, 2022
Did Elon Musk announce, as of December 24, 2022, that he is running for president? No, that's not true: As one of the most-reported-on persons of 2022, any such announcement would have been a top story for dozens of credible professional
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Zelenskyy Did NOT Say ‘Butthole’ When Giving Biden A Medal
Did Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy say the word "butthole" when giving President Joe Biden a medal at the White House? No, that's not true: Zelenskyy was saying "Pavlo," the name of the Ukrainian Army military captain who sent hi
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: There Is NO ‘Huge Army Of 2500000 Chechens’ Preparing ‘The End Of Russia’ Or Helping Putin In Ukraine
Is there a "huge army of 2500000 Chechens preparing the end of Russia" or helping "get Putin out of the bottleneck" in Ukraine? No, that's not true: The self-contradictory claim that fails to mention a source cites an unrealistic number e
Health Feedback→ Viral videos on Facebook promote unproven cancer cures; no evidence that pharmaceutical companies and the U.S. FDA are hiding the cure for cancer
REVIEW Cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide, with 19.3 million new cases and almost 10 million deaths in 2020[1]. Strong public interest in cancer treatments has led to recurrent promotion of scientifically unproven cancer reme
FactCheck.org→ No Evidence Flu Vaccine Increases Strep A Infections, Contrary to Online Claims
SciCheck Digest Several European countries have reported an early spike of group A strep infections, mostly among children, including cases of rare but deadly bacterial infections. There is no evidence the increase is being caused by nasal spray fl
FactCheck.org→ Social Media Posts Misrepresent FDA’s COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Research
SciCheck Digest A vaccine safety surveillance study from the Food and Drug Administration has been misrepresented online. The paper did not establish a link between the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and blood clots, as some have claimed — a
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Biden’s Ex-COVID-19 Coordinator Jeff Zients Did NOT Die At Guantanamo Bay’s Camp Delta On December 21, 2022
Did former White House Covid-19 coordinator Jeff Zients die at Guantanamo Bay's Camp Delta in Cuba on December 21, 2022, after being arrested by the U.S. military? No, that's not true. This claim originated from an article published on a
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Dramatic Lenticular Cloud Layers Do NOT Signal End Of World Or Even Storm
Does this short video of a dramatic layered cloud demonstrate "what the end of the world looks like" -- is it an impending scary natural disaster? No, that's not true: While we can't predict what the end of the world will look like, the c
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover Did NOT Trigger Removal Of 44,000 Child Sexual Exploitation Pages ‘In Just India Alone’
Did Twitter remove "over 44,000 Twitter pages involved with child sexual exploitation -- in just India alone" since Elon Musk took over the company? No, that's not true: Such large numbers came from global totals, not from India alone. Al
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Tesla Has NOT Launched New Cryptocurrency
Did Tesla launch a new cryptocurrency that will rapidly turn a £200 ($240) investment into thousands in just days? No, that's not true: This deceptive ad is not associated with Tesla. Although Tesla has invested in cryptocurrency, and Do
Health Feedback→ Medical exemptions to COVID-19 vaccines are granted for contraindications, not including history of blood clots or adverse reaction to prior vaccine
REVIEW On 11 December 2022, radio host Dan Bongino posted a
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Researcher Did Find Possible Racist Origin Of ‘Jingle Bells’ — But Song Isn’t About Slave Bells, Which Did Exist
Does the song "Jingle Bells" make a hidden reference to slaves forced to wear bells so they could be easily tracked if they tried to escape under the cover of night? No, that's not true: The song "Jingle Bells," originally named "One Hors
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Doctor Did NOT Say On Video That He Manufactured AIDS As Bio Weapon — This Is A Soviet-Era Disinformation Hoax
Did an American doctor admit on video that he created the HIV and AIDS viruses in a U.S. military medical laboratory, Fort Detrick, so that they could be used as biological weapons for depopulating the world? No, that's not true: Dr. Robe
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Earth Is NOT Proven Flat By ‘Massive Underwater Wall’ From Pole To Pole — There Is No Such ‘Wall,’ It’s A Mapping Seam
Does a video of satellite imagery showing what a post describes as a "massive underwater wall" stretching from "pole to pole" prove that the Earth is flat? No, that's not true: A video of Google Earth seafloor mapping data depicted in the
Truth or Fiction?→ White House COVID-19 Chief Downplays Mask Use in ‘Confusing’ Interview
The head of the White House’s response to COVID-19, Dr. Ashish K. Jha, downplayed the importance of local mask mandates in December 2022 — going into the third year of the global pandemic — even as he claimed it was not an “eith
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: FBI Payments In ‘Twitter Files: Part 7’ Were NOT For Censoring — They Were For Providing Information
Were the FBI payments to Twitter, documented in what's known as Part 7 of the "Twitter Files", compensation for censoring? No, that's not true: The evidence provided shows the payments were reimbursement for costs associated with the comp
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: 80,000 Ukrainian Troops Have NOT Imposed A ‘Total Blockade’ On Russian Forces In The Donetsk Region
Have 80,000 Ukrainian troops totally blockaded Russian invasion forces fighting in Ukraine's semi-occupied eastern Donetsk region? No, that's not true: The post making the claim in its caption does not mention a blockade in an accompanyin
FactCheck.org→ DeSantis’ Dubious COVID-19 Vaccine Claims
While announcing a request for a grand jury probe into “crimes and wrongdoing” related to the COVID-19 vaccines, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his panel of contrarian experts repeatedly suggested the shots were too risky. But such claims are unsup
FactCheck.org→ The Facts Underpinning Jan. 6 Committee Criminal Referrals
After a year and a half and more than 1,000 interviews, the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol released a 154-page summary of its final report on Dec. 19 that concludes former President Donald Tru
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO Evidence Thieves Stole U.S. Postal Service Uniforms And Are Using Them To Rob Homeowners At Gunpoint
Did thieves steal U.S. Postal Service uniforms and use them to rob homeowners at gunpoint? No, there's no evidence that's true: A local Postal Service spokesman told Lead Stories the claim "could not be substantiated." Additionally, there
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: FDA Did NOT Report Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine ‘Causes Blood Clots’
Did the Food and Drug Administration report that the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine "causes" blood clots? No, that's not true: In remarks to Lead Stories, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stated that the vaccine meets its safety s
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Michelle Obama’s Doctor Did NOT Go On Record About Seeing Proof That She Is Male — This Story Is Satire From A Liberal Troll
Did Michelle Obama's doctor go on the record about the former first lady using a urinal during the 2008 presidential campaign, thereby proving that she is a man? No, that's not true: The article making this claim originated in 2017 on a n
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Actor Michael J. Fox Has NOT Died As Of December 20, 2022
Has actor Michael J. Fox passed away? No, as of December 20, 2022, that's not true: His publicist told Lead Stories on December 20 that Fox is alive. Additionally, Fox's social media accounts, as well as his foundation, have not reported
Full Fact→ Instagram post wrongly links nasal flu vaccines to strep A outbreak
There’s no evidence that nasal flu vaccines are driving increased rates of strep A, and the timing of the outbreak doesn’t mean this is the case.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Colloidal Silver In Nebulizers And Humidifiers Is NOT A Proven Treatment For Viral Infections Such As RSV, COVID-19
Is colloidal silver in humidifiers and nebulizers a safe and effective method to treat viral infections like COVID-19 and RSV in children? No, that's not true: A medical toxicologist and pediatrician told Lead Stories that silver has "no
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: ‘Yellowstone Officials’ Did NOT ‘Close Down The Park’ Or Say ‘Volcanic Uplift Is Rising’ On December 18, 2022
Is it true that "Yellowstone officials just closed down the park & said the volcanic uplift is rising" on December 18, 2022? No, that's not true: A video that made this claim reused shots from a fictional movie that has been available
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Elon Musk Did NOT Tweet That Banning Reporters From Twitter Was ‘Innocuous Alternative’ To Murder
Did Elon Musk tweet, "You know, in some parts of the world, journalists get murdered for crossing the wrong people. Banning the reporters I don't like from my own platform feels like a pretty innocuous alternative to me" on December 16, 2
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: 80,000 Polish Troops Did NOT Besiege Kaliningrad, Russia
Did 80,000 Polish troops besiege Kaliningrad, Russia? No, that's not true: The video making this claim in its headline does not mention 80,000 Polish troops besieging Kaliningrad, Russia, in its recorded content. There have also been no n
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘We Took Police At Their Word’: Florida News Outlets Fuel Latest Police ‘Overdose’ Story
A story out of Florida in December 2022 quickly gained traction online and made it to the national spotlight, becoming the latest story to push the claim — contrary to medical expertise — that even brief exposure to fentanyl can induce an o
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: COVID Shots Have NOT Increased ‘Sudden Deaths’ By 4 Times In Germany
Have COVID-19 vaccine rollouts increased "sudden deaths" in Germany by four times? No, that's not true: The claim misuses billing data to make medical claims, according to the chairman of the board of the doctors who provide health under
FactCheck.org→ Trump Swapped Prisoners, Too
Criticizing the Biden administration’s recent prisoner swap of Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for WNBA star Brittney Griner as “a one-sided disaster,” former President Donald Trump wrongly boasted that his administration “got
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Elon Musk Did NOT Reveal That Joe Biden Is Sick
Did a Facebook video reveal that Elon Musk leaked information that proves President Joe Biden is "mortally sick"? No, that's not true: This video has a clickbait title and does not say Musk has inside information that Biden is ill. There
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: GO2Bank Is NOT Giving New Customers $1,000 As Sign-Up Bonus
Is the digital bank GO2Bank giving new customers a sign-up bonus of $1,000? No, that's not true: A representative of the owner of the GO2Bank brand, Green Dot Corporation, told Lead Stories that this alleged sign-up bonus is not a GO2Bank
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Mel Gibson Did NOT Say He Wants To ‘Expose The Truth About The Corrupted Elites’ On Telegram
Did Mel Gibson say he wants to "expose the truth about the corrupted elites" on his official Telegram account? No, that's not true: "It's fake," Gibson's representative told Lead Stories about a purported quote from the actor. Gibson does
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: 2021 Was NOT A Year With No Flu Cases Worldwide
Were there zero influenza cases worldwide in 2021 because flu cases were fraudulently recorded as COVID-19 cases? No, that's not true: Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, flu cases have been categorized separately f