On January 15 2020, a Tumblr screenshot featuring purported facts about holy water (“my favorite Catholic lore”) was shared to Imgur with the title “How to get +1 holy damage”: A multi-party Tumblr exchange began with claims f
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FactCheck.org→ FactChecking the January Democratic Debate
Summary In the final Democratic debate before the Iowa caucuses, there were fewer candidates — only six — but more than a few false, misleading and exaggerated claims: Former Vice President Joe Biden claimed that the “wealthy are the
Lead Stories→ Fake News: AOC Did NOT Say Christianity Should Be Ignored As "Superstitious Nonsense"
Did freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez say Christianity should be ignored as "superstitious nonsense"? No, that's not true: the article comes from a liberal satire website and Ocasio-Cortez is Catholic. The claim originated from a
Truth or Fiction?→ Does Using Antidepressants Disqualify You from a Military Draft?
After a January 3 2020 United States-led strike killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Suleimani in Baghdad, Iraq, speculation flew about impending war, eventually turning into rumors about an American military draft. On the day Suleimani was killed, news o
FactCheck.org→ No Evidence Clinton Sent ‘Nooses’ Email to Brazile
Quick Take There is no evidence to support claims that Hillary Clinton sent fellow Democrat Donna Brazile a profane email in 2016, calling Donald Trump a “bastard” and saying “we’re all going to hang from nooses” if he win
Truth or Fiction?→ How Many Moms Are in ‘One Million Moms’?
In December 2019 the group One Million Moms grabbed headlines for purportedly forcing the Hallmark Channel’s decision — quickly reversed — to discontinue holiday season television commercials by the brand Zola due to its inclusion of a lesbi
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Medicare for All? How Are We Gonna Pay for That? With THIS Money’ Post
On December 12 2019, the Facebook page “Fully Automated Luxury Gay Space Communism” shared the following screenshot of a retweet opining that a $738 billion expenditure for defense (and a Space Force) could be used to fund Medicare for A
FactCheck.org→ Meme Misidentifies Impeachment Witness
Quick Take A photo of a woman in Australia reacting to the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election has been misidentified as law professor Pamela Karlan, a Democratic witness during the House impeachment inquiry. Full Story Internet trolls hav
Truth or Fiction?→ Current World Food Production is Enough to Feed 10 Billion People, Starvation isn’t Profitable to Solve?
Amid election primary policy debates in December 2019, a post about current world food production being sufficient to feed more than three times the world’s population circulated on Facebook in screenshot form: Labeled “when you
Lead Stories→ Fake News: People Shown In The ‘Stolen Lives Quilt’ Meme Are NOT Victims Of Illegal Alien Killers
Are the people shown in this "Stolen Lives Quilt" meme victims of illegal alien killers? No, that's not true. While many of those pictured were killed by undocumented immigrants, the 30 images on the right half of the meme show victims of the
FactCheck.org→ FactChecking the November Democratic Debate
Summary We spotted several false claims and factual flubs: South Bend Mayor Peter Buttigieg falsely claimed that President Donald Trump “had to confess in writing, in court, to illegally diverting charitable contributions that were supposed to g
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘The Little White Envelope for the Man Who Hated Christmas’ Posts
In November 2019, a nearly year-old “Maui 24/7” post titled “THE LITTLE WHITE ENVELOPE” (alternately: “the Man Who Hated Christmas”) circulated virally on social media: Text attached to an image told a heartstri
Truth or Fiction?→ Hotel Cleaner Who Stole Sperm from a Millionaire’s Used Condom Won Child Support Battle, Millions?
On November 10 2019, a story about a hotel cleaner stealing a millionaire guest’s used condom to covertly impregnate herself and receive millions of dollars in child support was shared by the Facebook page “Waploaded.com Media”: T
Truth or Fiction?→ Who Runs ‘Journalist Excellence Worldwide’?
In early November 2019, the Facebook page “Journalist Excellence Worldwide” began making engagement inroads, with content shared to large groups and newly-viral, unrelated pages. However — no matter how convincing a page might appear at
FactCheck.org→ Trump’s Shaky $5,000 Boast
President Donald Trump is on shaky ground when he claims that annual income for the typical household is up by an inflation-adjusted $5,000 since he took office. That turns out to be based on an erratic series of estimates drawn from a government surve
Truth or Fiction?→ David Bowie Meeting an Child With Autism at ‘Labyrinth’ Premiere
On October 27 2019, Facebook user Micah Daigle shared what appeared on first glance to be a secondhand anecdote about a friend’s touching introduction to David Bowie at a premiere of the film Labyrinth in 1986. A photograph of David Bowie holdi
Truth or Fiction?→ Facebook ‘News’ Service to Include ‘Diverse’ Category, Sites Associated With White Nationalism
Facebook has announced a news service aimed at providing users with a “personalized” slate of stories from four different types of categories: general, topical, local, and “diverse”: Diversity publishers as those focused on key
Truth or Fiction?→ Conservative Versus Liberal, ‘Taken at a California Public High School This Year’ Meme
In October 2018, Facebook user Matt Gaelitz shared a slide titled “Conservative vs. Liberal” along with a status update: Taken at a California public high school this year. This is what indoctrination is all about. On June 4 2018, the same
FactCheck.org→ Trump’s Error-filled Cabinet Meeting
For more than an hour, President Donald Trump presided over a cabinet meeting, reeling off numerous false or misleading claims: Trump claimed, without evidence, that President Barack Obama tried to call North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “11 times” b
Truth or Fiction?→ Frida Kahlo: ‘You Deserve a Lover’
In October 2015, the Facebook page “Sacred Dreams” shared an image and purported quotation attributed to Frida Kahlo, sometimes referenced in shorthand as “you deserve a lover”: Alongside a suspiciously modern-appear
Truth or Fiction?→ Was the Original Super Mario Bros Only 40 KB (While Modern Screenshots of One Frame Are 283 KB)?
In October 2019, the following post appeared on Reddit’s r/gaming, claiming that the original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) title Super Mario Bros. was 40 KB (kilobytes) of data, and the appended modern screenshot contained a comparative
Truth or Fiction?→ Will 154,000,000 Pieces of Plastic from Christmas Crackers in the UK Wind Up in the Ocean in a Single Year?
In late September and early October 2019, a very specific claim involving Christmas crackers (a tradition involving devices called “party poppers” in some countries; they are made from cardboard and gunpowder, generally contain confetti or
PolitiFact→ Donald Trump – Fact-checking Trump on hiring of minorities, women
The Truth-o-Meter says: Half-True | Fact-checking Trump on hiring of minorities, women President Donald Trump during a forum with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said economic indicators painted a good picture for minority workers. Trump
Truth or Fiction?→ Online Disinformation Tries to Link Greta Thunberg with George Soros
As Swedish activist Greta Thunberg’s campaign for world governments to meaningfully address climate danger gained more attention, so did the amount of online misinformation thrown at her. For some social media users, that meant invoking far-righ
Truth or Fiction?→ Did ‘Upper Case’ and ‘Lower Case’ Originally Refer to Where Printers Kept Their Letters?
On September 12 2019, Twitter user Benjamin Molineaux shared the following tweet and image, suggesting that the common terms “uppercase” and “lowercase” originated with the standard physical storage of typesetting equipment:
Lead Stories→ Fake News: JFK Jr. Is NOT Alive And Will Not Replace Vice President Pence as Donald Trump’s 2020 Running Mate
Is John F. Kennedy Jr. alive and will he make a public return to join President Donald Trump as his vice presidential running mate in 2020? No, that's not true: It is a cornerstone of a conspiracy myth promoted by QAnon followers who believe t
FactCheck.org→ Trump’s False ‘Facts’ on the Environment
Just as CNN was beginning its climate town hall event, President Donald Trump tweeted a list of “8 facts” boasting of the nation’s air quality and carbon emissions reductions. Several of his “facts,” however, are inaccurate or
Truth or Fiction?→ Did The Movie ‘Venom’ Get More Money Than Fire Relief for the Brazilian Amazon?
Following the August 2019 news that the G7 economic forum agreed to pledge $20 million to contain fires tearing through the Amazon rainforest, digital artist Todd Vaziri‘s note of perspective on Twitter struck a chord online. Vaziri — who has
Snopes→ Candidate: Michigan City Should Be as White ‘as Possible’ (Video)
A city council candidate in Michigan said she has no plans to end her campaign after shocking a public forum when she said she wants to keep her community white “as much as possible.”
Truth or Fiction?→ Did the Presidents of the United States and France Agree on Inviting Russia Back Into the Group of Seven?
An August 20 2019 story about the Group of Seven (G7) economic forum and purported discussions between United States President Donald Trump and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron was quickly contradicted by other reporters. CNN’s Kylie Atwoo
Lead Stories→ Fake News: D.A.R.E. Has NOT Finally Ended Its Anti-Weed Campaign, Has Not Quietly Removed Cannabis From ‘Gateway Drugs’ List
Has D.A.R.E. -- the nonprofit group that presents anti-drug education to American students -- ended its opposition to marijuana and quietly removed cannabis from the "gateway drugs" list on its website? No, that's not true: The claim that D.A.
FactCheck.org→ The Epstein Connections Fueling Conspiracy Theories
Summary In the absence of information about how sex offender Jeffrey Epstein managed to die in prison by an apparent suicide on Aug. 10, outlandish conspiracy theories have cropped up across the political spectrum. Among the more prominent theories
Truth or Fiction?→ Are the ‘Epstein Gurney Photos’ Fake?
Conspiracy theories circulated broadly and relentlessly after the August 10 2019 death of high-profile convicted sex offender and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein in federal custody, including claims that widely published “gurney photos&#
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Netflix Really Cancel ‘The OA’?
News that Netflix had cancelled its popular supernatural show The OA after airing only two of its five planned seasons aired broke on August 5 2019, causing #SaveTheOA and #RenewTheOA to trend on Twitter. Not long after, fans of the show on Reddit
FactCheck.org→ Photos Don’t Tell the Whole Story on Border Trash
Quick Take Old pictures of trash strewn in the Arizona desert are circulating on Facebook with the suggestion that they were taken recently and that the media failed to cover it. Neither of those things is true. Full Story Photos of trash near Arizon
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Wife Of US Attorney Prosecuting El Paso Gunman Did NOT Flash White Power Symbol At Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearings
Did the wife of U.S. Attorney John Bash, who is prosecuting accused El Paso massacre gunman Patrick Crusius, flash a white power symbol as she sat behind Brett Kavanaugh during his Senate confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court? No, that's
Truth or Fiction?→ Is Someone Putting Nair in Hair Conditioner Bottles?
A pair of posts shared to Facebook on July 28 and 29 2019 carried a warning to consumers, claiming that a woman’s hair had “fallen out in clumps” because someone had added Nair (or another cream-based depilatory) to conditioner purch
FactCheck.org→ Trump’s and Miller’s Attacks on ‘The Squad’
President Donald Trump and his top immigration adviser continue to criticize four progressive Democratic congresswomen known as “the squad,” but some of their claims twist the women’s words. We’ve dealt with a couple of these
FactCheck.org→ Unpacking Biden’s and Trump’s Big Cancer Promises
On the campaign trail, former Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump have both claimed that a cure to cancer would soon become a reality — if they were elected in 2020. Experts, however, don’t share that degree of optimism. Despi
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Rep. Ilhan Omar Become a Citizen Before Melania Trump?
On July 16 2019, the Facebook page “Yes She Can” shared a meme with claim that Rep. Ilhan Omar had been an American citizen longer than First Lady Melania Trump (née Knauss): Text posted with the meme went as follows: Isn’t it in