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
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Snopes→ How Conspiracy Theories Spread Online – It’s Not Just Algorithms
Debate has grown in recent years over the role that social media algorithms play in spreading conspiracy theories and extreme political content online.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: SCOTUS Did NOT Issue Order For Omar’s Removal From Congress
Did the Supreme Court of the United States issue an order to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar from Congress? No, that's not true. The story was published by a liberal satire website that tries to mislead Trump supporters and Republicans into sharing mad
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?→ Does H.R. 5717 Require That Gun Owners Be Licensed by the Government?
A graphic spreading online opposing a gun safety bill misconstrues its origin in an effort to paint it as an attempt at government overreach capitalizing on the COVID-19 pandemic. The meme, which contains a strange spacing gap resembling a copy-and-pa
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: Goodwill Did NOT Use COVID-19 As An Excuse To Fire All Employees
Did Goodwill fire all of its employees and use the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to do it? No, that's not true: While plenty of Goodwill employees across the country may have lost their jobs as stores have closed due to the outbreak, it's
Truth or Fiction?→ Is New York City Planning ‘Temporary Mass Graves’ in Central Park?
On April 6 2020, the New York Post claimed that New York City was considering “temporary mass graves” in public parks such as Central Park in an article bearing the headline, “NYC may temporarily bury coronavirus victims in parks:
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Photo On Biography Of Boy Who Died From Coronavirus Is NOT Actually Him
Is the photo accompanying a story about the death of a 13-year-old English boy actually the right person? No, that's not true. A biographcal piece on Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab, who died on March 30, 2020, from COVID-19, features the photo of C
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Democrats Have NO Plan To End Social Security Payments In 2024
Are Congressional Democrats planning to halt Social Security payments in 2024? No, that's not true. The claim is a work of satire put out by a network of sites aiming to fool conservatives into believing and sharing the posts - posts that are
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: 5G Test Did NOT Kill Hundreds Of Birds In The Netherlands
Did a test for 5G cellular service cause hundreds of birds to die in the Netherlands? No, that's not true: The story has been roundly debunked as untrue. The Dutch Antenna Bureau said it was "not the case" that the birds died because of 5G rad
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Harvard Did NOT Admit Michelle Obama’s Degrees Are Fakes
Did Harvard University admit the degrees held by former first lady Michelle Obama are fakes? No, that's not true. The story was published by a liberal satire website that tries to mislead Trump supporters and Republicans into sharing made-up s
FactCheck.org→ Trump Falsely Claims He Inherited ‘Empty’ Stockpile
More than once, President Donald Trump has falsely claimed that the federal stockpile of emergency medicine and supplies he inherited from his predecessor was an “empty shelf.” While the government does not publicize all of the contents of the repo
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Bill Withers Did NOT Leave $2 Million Estate to Trump Re-election Campaign
Did Bill Withers leave $2 million to President Donald Trump's re-election campaign? No, that's not true: The "Lean On Me" singer, who died on April 3, 2020, did not leave part of his estate to Trump's campaign. The claim is part of a satirical
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: President Trump Did NOT Refer To Coronavirus As A ‘Hoax’
Did President Trump refer to the novel coronavirus as a hoax? No, that's not true: Audio and video clips making the rounds have been edited and taken out of context to suggest Trump was calling the coronavirus a hoax. Instead, the president wa
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Audio Of Biden Calling Coronavirus A ‘Hoax’ WAS Manipulated
Did U.S. Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden call the coronavirus a "hoax"? No, that's not true, and here is some context: The audio on a tweet was manipulated, and Biden never called the novel coronavirus a hoax. The clip was delibera
FactCheck.org→ Trump, Biden and the Defense Production Act
Leading Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden repeatedly has criticized President Donald Trump for failing to make timely use of his powers under the Defense Production Act to compel companies to manufacture medical supplies that are expected to
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Video Does NOT Show Destruction Of 5G Towers During Rampage
Did a man take down 5G towers during a rampage in Australia? No, that is not true. The viral video showing the destruction was shot in 2009, nine years before 5G arrived in the country. In 2009, towers were offering 3G and some 4G service. The
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: ‘Coronavirus / COVID-19 Exposed’ Video Does NOT Contain Credible Info
If viruses can survive on surfaces, shouldn't we all be sick? Does 5G give you coronavirus? Is the "new world order" what's behind the epidemic? No, no and no: none of this is true as claimed in a video. The video (archived here) was uploaded
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: COVID-19 Is NOT A Fabrication Or A Scapegoat For Economic Disaster
Is there evidence that COVID-19 is (a) not real and (b) simply a scapegoat to deflect blame for an economic disaster? No, that's not true: The global pandemic that's infected about 1 million people that we know of and killed more than 51,000 a
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Dr. Fauci Predict a Serious Pandemic During Trump’s Presidency — in 2017?
White House Coronavirus Task Force lead member Dr. Anthony Fauci was a widely familiar face throughout the coronavirus pandemic (due in part to what many perceived as a soberingly honest approach to the crisis), and by late March 2020, Fauci was rumor
FactCheck.org→ Baseless Attack on News Media Over Photo of Coffins
Quick Take A viral post on Facebook claims without substantiation that the “media” is running a photo of coffins from a 2017 movie with news stories about the novel coronavirus pandemic in Italy. The picture is actually from 2013; it did ap
FactCheck.org→ Trump’s Spin on ‘Broken’ Testing
While his administration has faced criticism for being slow to ramp up testing for coronavirus infections, President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that the problem was with his predecessors, saying the administration “inherited a broken sys
Snopes→ Rural Areas Fear Spread of Coronavirus as More Hospitals Close
Nearly 200 hospitals have closed in rural areas over the last 15 years — eight in 2020 alone.
Lead Stories→ Locked Out: Losing Your Facebook And Instagram Accounts In Times Of Coronavirus
Two weeks before strict nationwide coronavirus lockdown measures were announced in Britain, Abbie had already been practicing the recommended social distancing. In her flat in the southwest of England, she had plenty of projects in the works a
Truth or Fiction?→ USNS Mercy and USNS Comfort Dock in Cities for Coronavirus Response
Amid jarring scenes of metropolitan hospitals dangerously strained by COVID-19 during the coronavirus pandemic, two naval hospital ships (the USNS Comfort and USNS Mercy) were docked in New York City and Los Angeles respectively in late March 2020
FactCheck.org→ Trump vs. Cuomo, Round 2
President Donald Trump continued his misleading attacks on Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic as it ravages the state. With mask use spiking at one New York hospital, Trump speculated that masks may be &
Truth or Fiction?→ The COVID-19 Chloroquine Controversy, Explained
On March 30 2020, a number of outlets reported that the Food and Drug Administration had given a limited go-ahead for the use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine in medical settings in the latest development in what has become a bizarrely (but not e
Truth or Fiction?→ Is a $1,200 Coronavirus Stimulus an Advance on 2020’s Tax Credit — or a Loan You Have to Pay Back in 2021?
In the early evening of March 27 2020, news that Americans would receive COVID-19 stimulus checks of $1,200 or higher was a flashpoint of discussion in the reporting of the passage of the the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also
Lead Stories→ A New Look For Lead Stories
Welcome to the all-new and improved leadstories.com. After five years of the same old design, we decided it was time for a new look. We will, of course, continue to debunk and fact check the latest rumors, falsehoods and questionable memes mak
FactCheck.org→ Meme Misleads on Hospital Visits to Children With COVID-19
Quick Take A viral meme suggests that children hospitalized with COVID-19 in the U.S. and U.K. can’t be visited by a parent. Hospital policies have become generally more restrictive, but pediatric patients are still allowed visits by at least one
Truth or Fiction?→ Did the President of the United States Tell Governors Seeking Ventilators That Favors Are ‘a Two-Way Street’?
In late March 2020, a quote attributed to United States President Donald Trump involving various state governors and access to ventilators began spread in the form of several text-based status update memes: One of the shares appeared on the page
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Coronavirus ‘Patient Zero’ Is NOT A Man Who Had Sex With A Bat
Did the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, begin in China when a man had sex with a bat? No, that's not true: a fake-news, satirical website put out the hoax. The claim originated in an article (archived here) where it was published by World News
FactCheck.org→ Trump’s Misleading Ventilator Counter-Punch at Cuomo
Hitting back at New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s pleas for the federal government to provide more ventilators, President Donald Trump misleadingly claimed Cuomo rejected a 2015 recommendation to purchase 15,000 ventilators and instead “establis
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Tanks Are NOT Rolling Into American Towns In Advance Of Martial Law
Did U.S. military tanks roll into American towns in advance of martial Law? No, that's not true: A video showing U.S. military tanks on a train do not mean troops are moving into towns across the United States to impose martial law amid the co
FactCheck.org→ Viral Post Twists Biden’s Words About VP Nominee
Quick Take A viral social media post wrongly states that former Vice President Joe Biden told donors “he will not be president for very long” if elected. Biden merely said that he would seek an experienced vice presidential running mate who
FactCheck.org→ Trump Hypes Potential COVID-19 Drugs, But Evidence So Far Is Slim
President Donald Trump has enthusiastically pushed the use of two malaria drugs — one in combination with an antibiotic — to treat COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. But there is currently only limited evidence to sugges
Truth or Fiction?→ Does This Video Show That ‘Tanks Have Arrived in San Diego’?
In another case of social media users and disreputable blogs stoking fear via disinformation amid the COVID-19 pandemic, footage of a routine shipment of tanks in two states has been interpreted — and then disseminated — as an omen of so
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO Proof That Genetic Mutations Responsible For Coronavirus’s Virulence
Did genetic mutations cause the coronavirus to become more dangerous? No, there is no evidence of that. The claim surfaced in a post (archived here) on Facebook. It opened: Feeling confused as to why Coronavirus is a bigger deal than Seasonal
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NY Gov. Cuomo Did NOT Reject Buying Recommended 16,000 Ventilators In 2015 for Pandemic
Did New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo reject a recommendation for his state to buy 16,000 ventilators in 2015 in preparation for a pandemic? No, that's not true: That is disinformation being spread among conservatives, misinterpreting the facts of a