On May 31 2020, a Facebook analogy about Jesus and a flock of 100 sheep (where one was lost and 99 were safe) began circulating: That poster, Jared Price, credited Twitter user Manny Arteaga for the analogy. Arteaga shared a similar post earlier on
Search Results (1109) for: missing
FactCheck.org→ Viral Photos Don’t Show Minneapolis Officer in Floyd Case
Quick Take Politically charged social media posts have wrongly identified pictures as showing the Minneapolis police officer who was seen kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, who died shortly after. The two photos circulating do not show the officer,
FactCheck.org→ More False Mail-In Ballot Claims from Trump
California will send every registered voter in the state a mail-in ballot for the November general election. But President Donald Trump falsely said, on Twitter and at the White House, that the ballots would go to “anyone living in the state, no
Truth or Fiction?→ Obamagate, Explained
Chances are you saw at least a passing reference to “Obamagate” in May 2020, and chances are similar you (like many) struggled to understand what “Obamagate” might actually be. We’ll do our best to break it down. WhatR
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Judge Did NOT Rule Cliven Bundy And Co-Defendants Were ‘Justified In Their Actions,’ Bundy Case NOT Ignored In The News
Was cattleman Cliven Bundy unfairly forced off his own land by federal agents in 2014, and then vindicated in court because he was justified in his actions? No, that is not true. Bundy owed the government more than $1 million for 21 years of g
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: ‘Thousands Upon Thousands’ Of Children Purportedly Kidnapped By A Satanic Pedophile Ring Have NOT Been ‘Pulled From Underground Bunkers’
Have thousands of children been pulled from secret pedophile bunkers and underground cities in a massive rescue operation led by President Trump and Russian President Putin? No, that's not true: It is a false conspiracy theory unsupported by r
Truth or Fiction?→ OurMine Seizes Popeyes, Burger King Web Sites
Late on May 14 2020 (or early on May 15 2020) Popeyes.com and BurgerKing.com were hacked, replaced with the following message, an email address, and the hashtag #OurMine: Our Mine is here[,] contact us for better security[.] Use of the hashtag #OurMin
Truth or Fiction?→ Were Pride Parades Cancelled Over COVID-19 Without Sparking Armed Protests?
Right-wing personality Tomi Lahren’s attempt to criticize “liberals” on Twitter was refuted when several other users pointed out that she was attempted to gin up controversy that was already moot. “To the pro-eternal shutdown c
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
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Military Did NOT Rescue Over 35,000 ‘Malnourished, Caged Children’ Out of US Tunnels
Did the U.S. military rescue over 35,000 malnourished, caged children from U.S. tunnels? No, that's not true: The Pentagon denied the existence of the unit that purportedly carried out the rescues across the country over recent months. There i
FactCheck.org→ Trump Falsely Claims COVID-19 Death Projection Assumes ‘No Mitigation’
Dismissing concerns that states are reopening too soon, President Donald Trump incorrectly said that a newly revised model projecting 134,000 COVID-19 deaths by August “assumes no mitigation.” In fact, the model assumes states will keep their exis
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Dr. Fauci Has NOT Been ‘MIA’ And He Did NOT Illegally Send NIH Money To The Wuhan Virology Lab
Did Dr. Anthony Fauci disappear for days at the end of April because he had illegally sent $3.7 million to a virology lab in Wuhan, China? No that's not true. His schedule is a matter of public record, he never went MIA, and he didn't sign the
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Elon Musk Tweet ‘If One Day, My Words are Against Science, Choose Science’ Before a COVID-19 Controversy?
As the COVID-19 pandemic progressed in the United States, dueling opinions were politicized and bluntly split between opinions based on hard science versus economics. This ended up leading to the recirculation of a purported tweet from Elon Musk about
FactCheck.org→ Trump Campaign Takes Pelosi’s Words Out of Context
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in an April 14 interview that the Paycheck Protection Program was “very important,” and with a second round of funding, she wanted to “open this up to many more people,” specifically the “un
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: U.S. NOT ‘Sneakily’ Using Coronavirus As Cover to Pass Bill; Uncertain If It ‘Will Stop End-To-End Encryption, Allow Officials To See All Private Messages, Listen To All Calls’
Is the U.S. government using the cover of the coronavirus pandemic to remove end-to-end encryption so officials would be able to listen to everyone's calls and see everyone's private messages? No, that does not appear to be the case: A controv
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Trump Tweet On Swine Flu Death Toll and Obamacare Website Is Misleading
Was President Trump correct in stating on Twitter that 17,000 people died during the swine flu, or H1N1, pandemic during 2009-2010? And does a second claim in the post -- that the Obamacare website cost $5 billion -- hold up to scrutiny? No, b
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Biological Engineer Did NOT Offer Medically-Supported Information In Viral Video
Did a viral video "crush" Dr. Anthony Fauci and expose Dr. Deborah Birx and the White House coronavirus task force as members of the so-called "Deep State"? No, that's not true: The man who appeared in an online newscast interview has a histor
FactCheck.org→ Democratic Ad Twists Trump’s ‘Hoax’ Comment
The Democratic super PAC Priorities USA Action has been running an ad falsely suggesting President Donald Trump called the coronavirus outbreak a “hoax.” At the beginning, the ad splices together two quotes to have Trump saying, “The
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘COVID-19 Had Us All Fooled, but Now We Might Have Finally Found Its Secret’ Medium Post
In early April 2020, a post published to Medium.com circulated on social media, titled “Covid-19 had us all fooled, but now we might have finally found its secret.” The post went viral in archived and replicated form even after the site re
FactCheck.org→ Trump’s Claims on IG, Wisconsin Election
At the White House coronavirus task force press briefing on April 7, President Donald Trump distorted the facts about the person he dismissed as the chief watchdog for spending under the new pandemic relief legislation and the Wisconsin election, which
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Coronavirus Will NOT Simply Be ‘Exterminated’ If Lockdowns Are Lifted
Would allowing everyone, except the most vulnerable, to go on with their lives and forget about the lockdown put an end to the COVID-19 outbreak? No, that's not a safe assumption: The notion of "herd immunity," the idea that letting large numb
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?→ 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→ Fact Check: There Is NO Evidence The Illuminati Controlled The U.S. Government, And Coronavirus’ Is NOT Caused By 5G
Does a missing U.S. presidential seal indicate the Illuminati have relinquished control of the U.S. government? And is the next-generation wireless technology 5G responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic? No, there is no evidence that these claims
Truth or Fiction?→ Is the Canadian Government Giving Citizens $2,000 a Month Because of COVID-19?
On March 25 2020, social media users quickly drew comparisons between the help Canadian citizens are receiving from their government and a bill passed in the U.S. Senate. On Twitter, the comparison was spread most heavily in a tweet shared more than 1
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Fox News Did NOT Win Pulitzer Prize for Reporting During Crisis
Did Fox News win a Pulitzer Prize for its reporting during the coronavirus crisis? Not, that's not true: The claim was made in a post on a site clearly labeled as satire and part of a well-known network of satirical websites that trolls conser
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: COVID-19 NOT A Scripted Narrative To Justify Closed Borders Or Force Residents To Remain Home
Is COVID-19 virus part of a conspiracy that has a scripted narrative designed to justify closed borders and inspire residents to stay at home? No, that's not true: A conspiracy theory on Facebook claims that the coronavirus outbreak is a move
Truth or Fiction?→ WIC-Approved Items and Coronavirus #SocialDistancing
On March 16 2020, the Facebook page “Vote Common Good” shared a screenshot of a tweet about social distancing, WIC-approved items, and conscientious coronavirus stock-up shopping: Labeled “a practical way to show kindness,”
Truth or Fiction?→ NTNU in Norway Warns about Coronavirus, the United States’ Healthcare and Infrastructure
On March 14 2020, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) advised students abroad to return home in the face of a global COVID-19 pandemic. The warning was for “countries with poorly developed collective infrastructure, for exa
Snopes→ Was a Rare White Giraffe Killed by Poachers in Kenya?
The giraffe and her calf, which both had a condition known as leucism, went missing over four months ago.
Washington Post→ Sanders versus Biden on Social Security: a guide to the claims
Bernie Sanders keeps attacking Joe Biden for decades-old statements on Social Security, but these snippets are missing important context
Truth or Fiction?→ Did MSNBC Switch Colors for “Favorable” and “Unfavorable” for Only Bernie Sanders in a Super Tuesday Chyron?
Super Tuesday reporting generated a lot of social media discourse in March 2020, and among circulating claims was one that network MSNBC manipulated their on-screen graphics by “swapping colors” for presidential candidates Bernie Sanders a
Truth or Fiction?→ Rush Limbaugh Claims Coronavirus is No More Dangerous than the Common Cold. Is it?
In a transcript dated February 24 2020, radio personality Rush Limbaugh claimed that novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is no more dangerous than “the common cold,” adding that he believed that concern over the new strain of disease was simply p
Truth or Fiction?→ Do 78 Percent of Women Considering Abortion ‘Choose Life’ After Seeing an Ultrasound?
A September 2019 claim by the anti-abortion group “March For Life” was exposed to online scrutiny in February 2020. The group claimed at the time that “78 percent of women considering abortion choose life after seeing an ultrasound o
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘He’s 18’: Twitter Trending Topics Amplifies Quaden Bayles Conspiracy Theory
Not long after Quaden Bayles became the virally popular star of an anti-bullying campaign, Twitter’s trending topics boosted a conspiracy theory under “He’s 18,” linked to tweets alleging the nine-year-old boy was a much olde
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Obama, Clinton And Rice NOT Pictured Chumming With Osama bin Laden
Is a post making the rounds on Facebook showing Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice chumming with Osama bin Laden real? No, that's not true. The faked photos, arranged in a collage, are poorly altered images. But they are gainin
Truth or Fiction?→ Do Twenty States Now Suspend Driver’s Licenses of People Who Haven’t Paid Back Student Loans?
In February 2020, a screenshot (missing a date) circulated on Facebook, featuring a tweet by journalist Barbara Ehrenrich about how “20 states now” revoked driver’s licenses of people who had not been paying back their student loans:
Washington Post→ How misinformation helped spark an attempted coup in Gabon
The first episode of our miniseries, “Fakeout,” takes us to the Central African country of Gabon, where a missing president and a suspect video helped spark an attempted coup.
Truth or Fiction?→ Are Americans Getting Jailed for Unpaid Medical Debt?
On February 10 2020, a story about people in Kansas being jailed over medical debt spread on Facebook and Reddit: "You wouldn’t think you’d go to jail over medical bills": County in rural Kansas is jailing people over
FactCheck.org→ Trump Repeats Falsehoods in Celebrating Acquittal
A day after his acquittal in the Senate impeachment trial, President Donald Trump made celebratory remarks in the White House on Feb. 6, thanking many Republican politicians and repeating several false and misleading claims, many of which we’ve c