In the summer of 2020, a massive amount of rumors about child trafficking appeared under the hashtag #savethechildren — and temporary hashtag filtering by Facebook in response was cited as evidence of “media suppression” of a massive
Search Results (1265) for: earth
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Patton Oswalt Tweet ‘I Am a Proud Pedophile’?
On August 3 2020, a Facebook user shared a purported tweet from comedian Patton Oswalt, in which Oswalt purportedly claimed to be a “proud pedophile”: Commenters on the Facebook post folded it into a larger conspiracy theory abou
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Don’t Mark your calendars — Mars Will NOT Look Like A Second Moon On August 27
Will Mars look as big as the Moon in the night sky on August 27? No, that's not true: This is an old hoax that has circulated at least since 2003. The size of Mars would have to magnify about 140 times to match the size of a full
FactCheck.org→ Asthma Medicine Not Proven as COVID-19 ‘Cure’
Quick Take A viral headline on Facebook claims that a vaccine isn’t “Needed” for COVID-19 because “There Is Already A Cure.” But the supposed “cure” is an asthma medication, touted by a Texas doctor, that has not yet b
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘OK, Who Had Nuclear Cannibal Ants for August?’
On August 2 2020, a Facebook user shared the following anxiety-provoking Twitter screenshot with the following commentary: Okay, who has nuclear cannibal ants for August? The screenshot showed an August 2 2020 tweet by @NinjaEconomics: One million
Snopes→ SpaceX Capsule and NASA Crew Make 1st Splashdown in 45 Years
Two NASA astronauts returned to Earth in a dramatic, retro-style splashdown, their capsule parachuting into the Gulf of Mexico to close out an unprecedented test flight by Elon Musk’s SpaceX company.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NASA Did NOT Capture ‘Alien Cube Ship’ On Photo Shared By UFO Hunter
Did NASA sight a huge "alien cube ship" in pictures taken by its SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) satellite? No, that's not true: According to NASA the black squares in pictures returned by SOHO are nothing more than mis
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Tom Brady Say ‘If Anyone on My Team Kneels, I Quit’?
On July 23 2020, a Facebook link to an article claiming that American football player Tom Brady threatened to quit playing if anyone on his team was to kneel began circulating: Clicking through to the link led to the following content: Tom B
Truth or Fiction?→ Did WitchTok ‘Baby Witches’ Hex the Moon?
On July 18 2020, a rumor began spreading on “WitchTok” (a TikTok witch community) that a group of “baby witches” endeavored to “hex the moon” and “hex the fae,” setting off moral panics and fevered discu
Truth or Fiction?→ Thursday, October, and 8 PM Are All the Same?
On July 1 2020, twitter user Laureen Bazzi shared a tweet observing that “Thursday, October, and 8:00pm are all the same,” which ended up racking up a lot of attention: idk how to explain this but thursday, october, and 8:00pm are all th
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘New Cases, Yesterday: Germany: 298, Denmark: 10, Norway: 11, Sweden: 57 — United States: 55,442’
On July 8 2020, Twitter user Brian Klass shared the following post in response to President Trump’s tweets about reopening American schools — purportedly demonstrating the number of new cases on July 7 2020 in the United States and four Eu
Snopes→ Did Trump Tweet This About Puerto Rico?
President Donald Trump has called the U.S. territory “one of the most corrupt places on Earth.”
Climate Feedback→ Article by Michael Shellenberger mixes accurate and inaccurate claims in support of a misleading and overly simplistic argumentation about climate change
SUMMARY The article by Michael Shellenberger was published in various media outlets, including Forbes, Zero Hedge, Breitbart, PJ Media, The Daily Wire, The Australian, and Quillette. The article has been shared more than 200,000 times on social medi
FactCheck.org→ Video Presents Flawed Test on Masks, Oxygen Levels
Quick Take A viral video questions the safety of face masks by using a gas detector to purportedly show that masks result in dangerous oxygen levels for the wearer. But experts — and the company that makes the gas detector — say the video
FactCheck.org→ Trump’s False Military Equipment Claim
President Donald Trump has falsely claimed his administration invested “$2.5 trillion in all of the greatest equipment in the world” for the military. That’s approximately the total for defense budgets from 2017 to 2020, but the cost
FactCheck.org→ Trump Falsely Claims Obama ‘Destroyed’ Maine Lobster Industry
In a June 24 tweet, President Donald Trump falsely claimed that his predecessor had “destroyed” Maine’s lobster and fishing industry. It is true that, in an effort to protect a rich but delicate marine area, then-President Barack Oba
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Test Does NOT Show Face Masks Cause Oxygen Levels To Drop Into The ‘Danger Zone’
Did a test using a gas monitor show that face masks cause oxygen levels to drop into the "danger zone?" No, that's not true: The demonstration conducted by Ohio State Rep. Nino Vitale is flawed and misleading, according to a senior engineer wi
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Japan Did NOT Spray Looters and Rioters With Blue Dye So They Can Be Arrested Later
Did Japan spray looters and rioters with blue dye to identify and arrest them later? No, that's not true: A photo used to make that claim was taken at a pro-democracy protest in Hong Kong in August of 2019. Dyed blue water was not used against
Truth or Fiction?→ Is There a Painting of J. Marion Sims’ Experiments on Black Women at the Alabama State Capitol?
Amid the removal and re-evaluation of statues commemorating historical figures in June 2020, a Facebook post that spread widely in June 2020 conflated a statue of a gynecologist who experimented on enslaved Black women with a painting depicting him al
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Fireworks Every Night’ in June 2020
On June 20 2020, the Facebook page “Son of Baldwin” shared what would later become a popular iteration of a “fireworks conspiracy” set of rumors, spreading from several points on Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit: The Facebook
Climate Feedback→ Article in The Guardian misleads readers about sensitivity of climate models by narrowly focusing on single study
SUMMARY The article in The Guardian misleadingly claims that the latest generation of climate models are more sensitive to carbon emissions than scientists previously thought. Instead, reviewers of this article state that the best estimate of climat
Climate Feedback→ The potentials and limitations of tree plantings as a climate solution
In 2020, the World Economic Forum launched an initiative to plant one trillion trees to tackle climate change. Similar initiatives can be found across the world, yet the international conversation on tree plantings as a solution to reducing CO2 emissio
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: 22-Point Meme Of Conspiracy Memes Is Mix Of Falsehoods, Predictions, And Some Truth
Is a meme listing 22 points, including conspiracy claims about 5G hazards, adrenochrome, Jeffrey Epstein, Pizzagate, and Britain's Royal Family factual? Mostly no, although some points are true and others are just predictions that cannot be f
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: President Trump Did NOT Do All The Following — Contrary to Claims in Viral Message
Did President Trump do all of the things claimed in this viral post listing 10 accomplishments? No, that's not true. While several of the claims are true, many are misleading or false. The claim appeared in memes and text posts, including a po
Truth or Fiction?→ The Washington Monument Struck by Lightning and the Tower Card
During ongoing protests against police brutality and a lunar eclipse on June 5 2020, numerous posts on Facebook asserted that the Washington Monument had been struck by lightning — many of those claims appearing alongside an image of the “
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘A Post from Many Other Truckers’ on Protests Blocking Roads
On May 31 2020, an open letter was shared by the Facebook page “Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children” (archived here), purportedly speaking for all or most American truckers in the midst of ongoing protests in all fifty states: W
Snopes→ SpaceX Rocket Ship Blasts Off Into Orbit with 2 Americans
A rocket ship built by Elon Musk’s SpaceX company thundered away from Earth with two Americans, ushering in a new era of commercial space travel.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Bill Gates Did NOT Explain How He Injects GMO In Little Kids Arm Right Into The Vein
Did Bill Gates explain how he injects GMO in little kids arm right into the vein? No, that's not true: While this is a real video clip of him speaking, he was making an analogy that he believes the safety of genetically modified crops should b
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Who is Derek M. Chauvin?’
The extrajudicial killing of 46-year-old George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020 led to increased scrutiny of Officer Derek Chauvin, who was caught on video pinning his knee on Floyd’s neck for several minutes prior to Floyd’s death. Aroun
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Biden Does NOT Plan To Move Social Security Eligibility Age to 75
Does Joe Biden plan to move Social Security eligibility age to 75? No, that's not true: This story was originally published as satire by a network that trolls conservatives with false claims about liberals and Democrats. The content is often s
Health Feedback→ Hand-held UV lights sold online to kill microbes are effective only in specific conditions and can be unsafe when used improperly
REVIEW A video promoting the supposed germicidal properties of a hand-held UV lamp recently circulated on social media. It claims that the lamp will “kill 99.99% of all the bacteria, viruses, and mold […] in 10 seconds and that it “d
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Chelsea Clinton NOT Ranked World’s 18th Richest Woman
Was Chelsea Clinton ranked the world's 18th richest woman? 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 stories that are clearly marked as
Climate Feedback→ Video from PragerU makes several incorrect and misleading claims about climate change
SUMMARY This video discussing climate change was first published on PragerU’s website in April 2016 and recently posted on Facebook in May 2020. The video has received more than 356,000 views on Facebook over the past week. Scientists that evaluat
Truth or Fiction?→ In May 2020, Did Scientists Find Evidence of a Parallel Universe Where Time Runs Backwards?
If you spent any time on social media in the later days of May 2020, chances are you saw a New York Post article from May 19 2020 about scientists “discovering a parallel universe” circulating on social media, which is apparently a place
FactCheck.org→ U.S. Isn’t the Only Country With Lockdown Protests
Quick Take A social media post falsely claims that “the United States is the only country on earth that is protesting” stay-at-home restrictions and business closures. People around the world have opposed mitigation measures designed to slo
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Video Of Police ‘Forcing A Family’ Out Of Home In Handcuffs NOT Tied to COVID-19 Or HR 6666
Did police violently force a family from their home in handcuffs because they were in violation of House Resolution 6666? No, that's not true. The incident shown in a video is unrelated to the coronavirus or proposed legislation. It happened i
FactCheck.org→ How Many COVID-19 Tests Are ‘Needed’ to Reopen?
The Trump administration has repeatedly claimed that there are enough COVID-19 tests for states to begin reopening their economies. While that may be true for select locations, experts say more tests are needed, even if they don’t agree on a particul
Truth or Fiction?→ Are COVID-19 Doctors Reporting Bizarre Blood Clotting and Strokes in Otherwise Healthy Young Patients?
On May 3 2020, Twitter user Bess Kalb tweeted that her father, an intensive care unit doctor, claimed that COVID-19 damaged blood and vascular systems of victims like “sticking your finger in an electric socket”: My dad is an ICU doctor
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Lady Gaga Did NOT Participate In ‘Vile, Sickening’ Blood Drinking Ritual Pertaining To ‘Adrenochrome And Spirit Cooking’
Did entertainer Lady Gaga and others participate in a blood-drinking ritual "pertaining to adrenochrome and spirit cooking?" No, that's not true: A photo of Lady Gaga with performance artist Marina Abramovic and posts claiming to show them dri
Truth or Fiction?→ The Viral Death of Kat Restin
Segments of Twitter are alight with rumors surrounding the April 2020 death of Virginia teenager Kat Restin and the alleged circumstances regarding her demise. An obituary for Restin, 19, was published on April 23 2020. Restin’s Obituary In that