Did Pope Francis compare Christians to a fungus during an address in Morocco? No, that's not true: The speech quoted in misleading stories included the pope quoting a biblical passage in which Jesus responds to a question about the nature of t
Search Results (741) for: muslim
FactCheck.org→ Deceptive Facebook Post Distorts Rally Against Hate
Quick Take A Facebook post falsely describes a video of an interdenominational rally against Islamophobia as a “Muslim rally … demanding their Sharia Rights.” Full Story The mass shooting that killed 50 people in two New Zealand mosques
FactCheck.org→ Fake Elizabeth Warren Quote About Rape
Quick Take For over two years, memes have been circulating with a picture of Sen. Elizabeth Warren next to a fake, Islamophobic quote condoning rape. Full Story An old meme that has been debunked before is circulating again on Facebook. It features a
Truth or Fiction?→ Woodland Hills ‘Sharia Law’ Poster
On March 24 2019, a Facebook post in the group “Political Liars” (archived here) attributed a poster that apparently appeared in Woodland Hills, California to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, also known as CAIR: A status upda
Lead Stories→ Fake News: UN Resolution 2334 Did NOT Demand Israel "Give the Golan Heights to ISIS, including all its Christian population"
Did U.N. resolution #2334 require Israel to give the Golan Heights to ISIS? No, that's not true: a staunchly pro-Israel blog that seems to contain articles that are mostly copy pasted together from other sources embedded a video making that cl
Snopes→ Deadly Web Speech: ‘The Only Thing That Was Surprising Was That It Happened in New Zealand’
Following the massacre of 50 people at two mosques in Christchurch, Muslims weighed in on the daily impacts of online hate and misinformation.
Truth or Fiction?→ Retaliatory Attack on Christian Church in Pakistan?
On March 18 2019, just days after a right-wing extremist traveled from Australia to Christchurch, New Zealand to murder fifty people at two mosques during Friday prayers, British conservative commentator Theodora Dickinson posted a video of a burning
FactCheck.org→ The Facts on White Nationalism
In the wake of the attack on two New Zealand mosques, President Donald Trump said he did not see white nationalism as a rising threat around the world, but rather “a small group of people that have very, very serious problems.” Experts, how
FactCheck.org→ Meme Distorts Quran Verses
Quick Take A viral meme has paired old misrepresentations of the Quran with a picture of Rep. Ilhan Omar. Full Story A handful of distorted quotes from the Quran have been circulating on blogs and anti-Islamic websites for years, but their exposure re
FactCheck.org→ Supposed ‘Child Bride’ Photo Debunked in 2014
Quick Take A photo circulating online claims to show a young girl being “sold into sexual slavery.” But, according to fact-checking sites in 2014, the picture is from an old video of a child participating in a Quran recitation. Full Story
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Sam Hyde Was NOT The Shooter At Christchurch Mosque
Was Sam Hyde one of the gunmen who opened fire at a Christchurch, New Zealand mosque on March 15, 2019? No, that's not true: unfortunately the shooting did happen, with latest reports putting the number of dead at 48, but Sam Hyde was not the
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Kenya: Authorities Did NOT Release Barack Obama’s ‘Real’ Birth Certificate
Did Kenyan authorities release former U.S. President Barack Obama's "real" birth certificate? No, this is a fake report pubished initially by a Canadian entertainment website that makes a living by publishing fictional stories often involving
Snopes→ Rep. Ilhan Omar Criticized Again for Alleged Anti-Semitism
The Minnesota Democrat was appearing at a forum in Washington with Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan when she said she fears everything they say about Israel is construed as anti-Semitic because they're Muslim.
Lead Stories→ False Comparison: Consequences NOT So Different For Roseanne Barr And Jussie Smollett
Were the consequences for Roseanne Barr and Jussie Smollett radically different when it came to their respective shows and does this prove "liberal privilege"? A viral meme is making that claim but it is not really true. Even though their situ
Truth or Fiction?→ Tommy Robinson Banned from Facebook, Instagram
On February 26 2019, British professional provocateur and far-right activist Tommy Robinson (née Steven Yaxley-Lennon) — perhaps best known for his involvement with disinformation purveyors such as political party (and Brexit architects) UKIP and
FactCheck.org→ Meme Misleads on Minnesota’s Somali Refugees
Quick Take Facebook posts distort the number of Somali refugees who have resettled in Minnesota to advance an unsupported claim about a freshman congresswoman’s electoral victory. Full Story Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar’s family fled from h
Snopes→ Was Ilhan Omar’s Brother Arrested with ‘200 Lbs. of Explosives’?
More lame "satire" about Muslims and terrorism from the lamest of junk news sites.
Lead Stories→ Kumanovo-connection Update: Macedonian Fake News Purveyor Revealed To Be Military Intelligence Major
One of the Macedonians identified by Nieuwscheckers and Lead Stories to be behind a network of sites publishing hate-mongering fake news turns out to be a major in the military intelligence service of Macedonia. Another one is an active-duty s
FactCheck.org→ Doctored Photo Targets New Congresswomen
Quick Take Terrorist imagery and an “Impeach Trump” poster have been added to a photo of four newly elected congresswomen. The doctored image has been widely shared on Facebook. Full Story The 116th Congress, elected in November and inaugurat
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Texas Ranchers Find ‘Prayer Rugs’ Near the U.S.-Mexico Border?
Amid a flurry of headlines about the government shutdown and Michael Cohen on January 18 2019, President Donald Trump tweeted a highly dubious claim that ranchers on the southern United States border had found “prayer rugs” as part of a pl
Lead Stories→ Macedonian Fake News Network Shuts Down Dozens Of Websites After Joint Investigation By Lead Stories & Nieuwscheckers
Back in November of 2018 fact checking sites Lead Stories and Nieuwscheckers collaborated to map a network of Macedonian fake news websites that had published thousands and thousands of articles since 2016, mostly stolen from other places, man
Lead Stories→ How A Tattoo Led Us To The Macedonian Trucker Delivering Loads of Fake News To The Internet
The joint investigation by Lead Stories and Nieuwscheckers into a network of Macedonian fake news sites reached a dead end last month: we knew most of the sites involved and had a pretty good idea how their posts were being spread via fake Twi
Lead Stories→ Here Are The Tools And Methods We Used To Map A Macedonian Fake News Network And The People Behind It
Sherlock Holmes had his magnifying glass. Hercule Poirot relied on his "little grey cells". But the 21st century internet detective needs more than that to catch the bad guys. In this article we present some of the tools and tricks we used to
Lead Stories→ Decline and Fall Of A Macedonian Fake News Network: Numbers Indicate Facebook’s Measures Forced Desperate Move To Twitter
Although Macedonian fake news merchants still generate thousands of Facebook likes and shares, the platform's recent measures against bad actors have drastically reduced their reach. The next step in the arms race takes the battle to Twitter.
FactCheck.org→ Pence’s Claim that ISIS ‘Has Been Defeated’
On the same day ISIS claimed responsibility for a deadly attack against U.S. service members in Syria, Vice President Mike Pence declared that ISIS “has been defeated.” It is true that the U.S. and its allies have retaken virtually all of t
FactCheck.org→ Trump’s Numbers January 2019 Update
Summary In the time Donald Trump has been in the White House: The economy added 4.6 million jobs, including nearly half a million in manufacturing. Economic growth quickened, but not as much as Trump promised. The number of regulatory restrictions sto
FactCheck.org→ Trumps Not Donating $1 Billion for Border Wall
Quick Take A satirical story about President Donald Trump’s family donating $1 billion for his proposed border wall has spread to other sites that fail to label the work satire. Full Story Whether President Donald Trump will be able to secure fundin
FactCheck.org→ Facebook Posts Misrepresent Photo of Rep. Tlaib
Quick Take A false narrative spread on Facebook claims Rep. Rashida Tlaib was “caught on film trying to attack someone.” The photo in question is actually from a 2016 Trump campaign event she protested. Full Story Democratic Rep. Rashida T
Truth or Fiction?→ Is Rashida Tlaib’s ‘Raping and Pillaging… What Goes Around Comes Around’ Tweet Real?
In January 2019, a tweet attributed to Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib began circulating in questionable screenshot-only form on Twitter and Facebook: Dated January 4, 2019, it read: Americans have spent decades raping and pillaging my people. What goes a
Truth or Fiction?→ Does a Protester’s Sign Say ‘We Will Defeat America Using the Weakness of Liberal Leaders’?
In late 2018 and early 2019, an image circulated of a man holding a sign that read: “We Will Defeat America By Using The Weakness Of Liberal Leaders”: The image rarely appeared with any backstory, and it served as something of a Rorschach
Lead Stories→ Very Old News: Sharifa Alkhateeb Talking About Using Public Schools to Convert America to Islam… In 1989
Did Sharifa Alkhateeb talk about converting America to Islam in a video? Yes, she did, back in 1989, several years before she died in 2004. For some reason a video clip of a speech she made at a conference thirty years ago in August 1989 went
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Corporation Did NOT Win Bid To Open Muslamic Temples in Toys R’ Us Locations
Is a corporation named "LexCorp" planning to open "muslamic" temples in Toys R' Us locations? No, that's not true. The story was published by a liberal satire website that tries to educate gullible Trump supporters and Republicans about the n
Snopes→ Yemeni Mom Overcomes Travel Ban to Finally Hold Dying Son
Citizens from Yemen and four other mostly Muslim countries, along with North Korea and Venezuela, are restricted from coming to the United States under the travel ban enacted under President Donald Trump.
FactCheck.org→ The Viral Spiral of 2018
Summary All this month, we’re celebrating 15 years of holding politicians accountable. We’ve been writing about false and misleading viral claims for nearly as long. Early on, we mostly fact-checked viral messages in the form of chain email
Lead Stories→ Fake News: NO Media Silence About Woman Stabbed 14 Times in Minnesota
Did "not a drop of media coverage" happen about a woman who was stabbed 14 times in Minnesota? And is the media covering up the fact that the attacker was a muslim refugee? No, that's not true: several media outlets reported about the 2017 a
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Trump Did NOT Step In by Executive Order to Restore Christmas to Dearborn (Because It Was Never Abolished)
Did president Donald Trump step in via an executive order to restore Christmas in Dearborn, Michigan after it had been allegedly abolished by muslims? No, that's not true. The story was published by a liberal satire website that tries to educa
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Saudi Arabia Is NOT About To Behead 6 School Girls For Acting Indecently With Their Male Friends
Is Saudi Arabia about to behead six schoolgirls for acting indecently with male friends? No, that's not true: the story recently went viral again via the newest site in a network of Macedonian fake news websites that keeps recycling the same
FactCheck.org→ Websites Distort Story of Former Federal Judge
Quick Take Conservative websites falsely claim that former federal Judge Alex Kozinski “struck down” President Donald Trump’s original travel ban. He actually opposed its suspension. Full Story Before federal Judge Alex Kozinski
FactCheck.org→ Meme Confuses Lincoln’s Bible With A Quran
Quick Take Former President Barack Obama was sworn into office in 2013 with his hand on two Bibles. He did not use a Quran, as a meme circulating online falsely claims. Full Story Former President Barack Obama used two Bibles when he was sworn into of
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Clinton Foundation NOT Ordered To Cease Operations – Chelsea NOT Charged With Fraud
Sigh. Was the Clinton Foundation ordered to cease operations and was Chelsea Clinton charged with fraud? No, the same old hoax story that originally came from a liberal satire weblog has gone viral again via a copy on a siite run by a Macedon