Netflix’s American Murder documentary was popular enough in October 2020 to generate a storm of conspiracy theories, and among widely-discussed elements was a purported “coincidence” during which Chris Watts is questioned by police &
Search Results (909) for: baby
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Pete Buttigieg With the Only Acceptable Answer Re: Late Term Abortions’
On October 12 2020, actor and social media heavy George Takei shared a purported screenshot of a response by Pete Buttigieg to Fox News anchor Chris Wallace on the subject of third-trimester or “late-term” abortions: Takei’
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Joe Biden’s First Wife Did NOT Run A Stop Sign Before She Was Killed In A Car Accident
Did Joe Biden's first wife run a stop sign before she was killed in a car accident? No, that's not true. Neilia Biden and their children Naomi, Beau and Hunter, were in a car accident on December 18, 1972. She did not run a stop sign but
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘BLM Destroys Hispanic Child’s Birthday Party’
On October 5 2020, the aptly named Facebook page “Infodemik” shared a video captioned “BLM destroy Hispanic child’s birthday party Houston, TX”: Variations and Iterations Infodemik also shared the clip with a similar
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: This Video Does NOT Show A Cloned Live Dinosaur
Is this a video of a cloned live dinosaur? No, that's not true: This is a very life-like puppet, although the blinking eyes and the small roars are definitely a tad convincing. The claim appeared in a tweet (archived here) published on Se
Truth or Fiction?→ Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Susan Struck
On September 20 2020, two days after the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Facebook user Amber LeBeau shared a post claiming that Ginsburg had intervened on behalf of combat nurse Susan Struck, more broadly addressing the narrative
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Fisher-Price Did NOT Release ‘My First Peaceful Protest’ Playset
Did Fisher-Price release 'My First Peaceful Protest' playset with a house that children can set ablaze? No, that's not true: This is a satirical claim published by a well-known satire website. This satire piece stems from the recent prote
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Lakers Players Did NOT Wear Special Lace Collars To Honor Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Did LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Los Angeles Lakers' leading scorers this season, wear lace collars to honor the life of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg after her death? No, that's not true: This is a satirical claim publ
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Same-sex Couple Did NOT Celebrate World’s First Anal Birth After Successful Rectal-Ovary Transplant
Did a gay couple in Los Angeles have an "anal birth" after a "rectal-ovary transplant"? No, that's not true: the story was made up by a Canadian entertainment website that makes a living by publishing fictional stories often involving wei
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘I Just Tested Positive for Coronavirus’ Engagement Bait Spreads on Facebook
On July 25 2020, Facebook user Stiven Flores shared the following photograph, with a claim he had “just tested positive for coronavirus” and an aggressive push for others to share the post in order to collect “prayers”: Alongsi
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Netflix Did NOT Clarify Its Content Is ‘Mostly Pedophilia-Free’ In Response To ‘Cuties’ Backlash
Did Netflix tweet that its content is "mostly pedophila-free" in response to criticism over its streaming of "Cuties"? No, that's not true: The claim was made in a satire article on a popular satire site. However, several non-satire sites
Health Feedback→ Misinterpreted New York Times report leads to false claim that the number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. is inflated by up to 90%
REVIEW The claim that the U.S. has an inflated COVID-19 case count due to the sensitivity of the diagnostic PCR test for the virus that causes COVID-19 has been published in several media outlets including One America News Network, The Blaze, Red St
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: The Media Did NOT Fail To Report The Deaths of 11 Marines In Afghanistan This Week
Did the media fail to report the deaths of 11 Marines in Afghanistan this week? No, that's not true: The deaths referred to all occurred in 2010. Only two were Marines. News media reported on each of the deaths at the time. They did all h
AFP Fact Check→ Imposter Facebook post uses old photo of child who died following brain surgery
A photo on Facebook of a woman holding a baby with a birth defect went viral in South Africa after the person who posted it asked people to share the image widely, implying it was their son. But the claim was published by an imposter. In reality, th
Truth or Fiction?→ Did an RNC Speaker Say Her Biracial Son ‘Might Grow Up to be a Large Intimidating Brown Man,’ and Her ‘Biological Kids’ to be ‘White and Nerdy’?
On August 26 2020, the Facebook page “This American Carnage” shared the following meme, which purportedly shows a quote from Republican National Convention (RNC) speaker Abby Johnson on her biracial son growing up as a “large, intimi
Truth or Fiction?→ The August 27 TikTok Meme, Explained
In the summer of 2020, nebulous rumors circulated about August 27 on TikTok — and much of the chatter involved social media users‘ befuddlement, particularly with respect to the date and the platform: tomorrow is august 27 and tiktok sti
Truth or Fiction?→ Is ‘Brisket’ Among HEB Hurricane Supplies?
On August 23 2020, a popular screenshot of grocery chain H-E-B‘s “hurricane supplies” appeared to show a limit on brisket items — the only product specifically named other than water: In the screenshot of an apparent KPRC b
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Two British Siblings From Hampstead Did NOT Volunteer Truthful Stories About Satanic Ritual Abuse On Videotape
Were two British siblings witnesses and participants in sexually depraved, baby-killing, cannibalistic satanic rituals in which their father was the cult leader and every teacher in their school in Hampstead, England, was a member? No, th
Truth or Fiction?→ Is ‘Maskne’ a Sign of a Lung Infection?
As far-right disinformation purveyors continued flailing for relevancy in August 2020, one graphic regurgitated the conspiracy theory that blemishes caused by accumulations of facial moisture under face masks (worn in order to protect others from pote
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: ‘Leaked’ Jeffrey Epstein Flight Log Is Fake – 40 Celebrities Including Beyonce, Chrissy Teigen & Barack Obama Were Never On ‘Lolita Express’
Does a "leaked" Jeffrey Esptein flight log show a list of celebrities, including Beyonce, Chrissy Teigen and Barack Obama, having flown on his plane nicknamed "Lolita Express?" No, that's not true. A list of 125 people circulatin
Full Fact→ Gavin Williamson did not say pupils will be overpromoted into jobs that are beyond their competence
It has been widely claimed on social media that, in reference to A-level results day, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said: “The danger is that pupils will be overpromoted into jobs that are beyond their competence.” This is not true.&
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Photo Does NOT Show Barack Obama With His Hand Down Daughter’s Pants
Does a photo show Barack Obama with his hand inside his young daughter's pants? No, that's not true: The photograph of Obama with his arm around his daughter taken by a journalist in 2007 was digitally altered. The original shows
FactCheck.org→ Kamala Harris Is Eligible to Serve as President
Quick Take Kamala Harris, former Vice President Joe Biden’s running mate, is eligible to serve as U.S. president, contrary to the false claims of viral posts on Facebook. Her mother is from India and her father from Jamaica — but Harris was
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Images in ‘1918 Flu Pandemic’ Photo Post Are NOT All From That Period In History
Are a series of images circulating on social media accurately depicting what life looked and felt like during the 1918 flu pandemic? No, that's not true: While some of the photographs are, in fact, from the time when what was kno
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Kamala Harris Has NOT Been Chosen (Yet) As Biden’s Veep, She IS A Natural-Born U.S. Citizen And Is Eligible To Be President
Has Joe Biden already chosen Kamala Harris as his running mate, but she is not eligible to be president since her parents were not American citizens at the time of her birth? No, that's not true. While Sen. Harris was reportedly
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: $11 Billion Dollar Border Wall Did NOT Blow Down In Hurricane Hanna
Did part of the border wall separating the United States from Mexico blow over during Hurricane Hanna? No, that's not true. Video purporting showing a section of the border wall in Texas blowing over with gale force winds during
AFP Fact Check→ The original photo shows socialite Lynn Forester de Rothschild standing in front of a different painting
An image of American socialite Lynn Forester de Rothschild has been shared hundreds of times on Facebook and Twitter alongside a claim it shows her standing in front of a painting that depicts a baby-eating creature. The claim is false; the image h
FactCheck.org→ Trump’s Numbers July 2020 Update
Editor’s Note: This update is the first to reflect substantial economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many statistics in our April update were collected before much of the economy was shut down to slow the spread of the virus. Summary The COVID-1
Truth or Fiction?→ The #FreeBritney Movement, Explained
In July 10 2020, a Facebook post appeared about the #FreeBritney movement (evidently aimed at liberating Britney Spears), becoming hugely popular within just a few days: The Text of the Post The post — which was lengthy and full of de
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: That Heart-Wrenching Photo You ‘Need’ To Share Is Likely A Malware Scam
Did no one want to share the birthday photo of this grandmother on her 120th birthday? Or the one of that baby with the handicap? Or the dead mother? No, that's not true: these kinds of deceptive stories are often a ruse with the sole purpose
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: This Is NOT A Photo Of Aracely Henriquez, A Woman Robbed By George Floyd In 2007
Did George Floyd brutally beat Aracely Henriquez during a home invasion robbery, and is this a photo of her injuries? No, neither is true: This is a photo of Andrea Sicignano, an American student who was raped in December of 2018 while studyin
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Birth Certificate Does NOT Prove President Trump Fathered A Son With Ghislaine Maxwell In 1992
Does a birth certificate prove that Donald Trump and Ghislaine Maxwell had a son together in 1992? No, that's not true: The purported birth certificate was quickly revealed to be a fake soon after it was posted by an anonymous Twitter account
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Photo Is NOT Of ‘Brian’ And He Is NOT An Antifa Street Rioter
Does the photo of a badly battered face circulating on social media belong to an Antifa member named Brian who got beaten up for hitting a woman? No, that's not true. The photo is of a young man attacked in 2015 in what police said was an assa
The Dispatch→ President Trump Tweets a Video Decrying ‘Fake News.’ The Video Itself Was Manipulated.
President Trump tweeted a video on Thursday night bearing the CNN logo purporting to show CNN’s misleading coverage of a viral video of two toddlers of different races happily playing together:Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrumpJune 19th 2020120,976
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Cracker Jack Did NOT Change Name To More Politically Correct Caucasian Jack
Did "Cracker Jack" change their name to "Caucasian Jack" because that would be more politically correct? No, that's not true: the story was published by Christian-themed satire website The Babylon Bee to mock the recent real announcement about
FactCheck.org→ Meme Spreads Wrong Photo, Details in Floyd Criminal Case
Quick Take A meme misrepresents a 2007 criminal case in Houston involving George Floyd. The meme distorts the details of Floyd’s case and includes a photo of a woman who was badly injured in an unrelated attack in Spain in 2018. Full Story A popular
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Bibles NOT Pulled From Shelves At Barnes & Noble
Did U.S. bookstores like Barnes & Noble decide to stop selling bibles, stating the book contained outdated and controversial ideas? No, that's not true: the story originated as a joke on a Christian-themed satire website and it referenced
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Dr. Rashid Buttar Does NOT Show ‘Undercover Footage’ In Vaccine Video
Does an anti-vaccine video by Dr. Rashid Buttar show "undercover footage"? No, that's not true: The misleading title implies that this YouTube video will be the public unveiling of exclusive undercover footage of ... something. Viewers who fal
Truth or Fiction?→ Did a Long Island News Outlet Call George Floyd Graffiti ‘Anti-Government’?
A television station in Long Island, New York used some of George Floyd’s last words to attract social media users to a short story about “anti-government graffiti.” News 12 Long Island’s Twitter post on June 7 2020 did not men
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Nancy Pelosi Did NOT Rip Up Bible In Bold Anti-Trump Statement
Did Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi rip up a bible in a bold anti-Trump statement? No, that's not true: the story originated on a well-known Christian-themed satire website but was mistaken by many people for real news. The satirical article