“Research conducted for the Department of Health found that only 11% of people asked to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace have done so.” Annaliese Dodds MP, 17 November 2020 “It is estimated that only about 11% of people self-isol
Search Results (1396) for: researchers
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Student Project Meme Misleadingly Claims Newsday, Washington Post and New York Times Have Highest Fake News Risk
Do the websites of Newsday, the Washington Post and the New York Times have the highest "fake news risk"? No, that's quite misleading: the claim was made in an image put out by a Facebook page that appears to be a student project about fa
Health Feedback→ COVID-19 vaccine candidates show high efficacy and a safe profile in clinical trials, contrary to claims in viral video
REVIEW This 7 December 2020 video shows a series of 34 clips from individuals from different countries, claiming that COVID-19 vaccines are dangerous and unnecessary because the COVID-19 pandemic is not real. First published on YouTube, the platform
Full Fact→ Claims about the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine ingredients lack evidence
We’ve been asked to check a number of claims about the new Covid-19 vaccine and its ingredients. Several websites have claimed the Pfizer vaccine contains “PEG” which could cause large numbers of allergic reactions, and also that the
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Head Of Pfizer Research Did NOT Say COVID Vaccine is Female Sterilization
Did the head of Pfizer research say the COVID vaccine is female sterilization? No, that's not true: This clickbait headline doubles up on false claims. The person the claim refers to is Michael Yeadon, who nearly a decade ago held a high
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Sidney Powell Election Fraud Witness Navid Keshavarz-Nia Cites Debunked Election Hoaxes
Is a cybersecurity expert's testimony about election fraud based on verified incidents? No, the major examples Navid Keshavarz-Nia cites in a written legal declaration lack proof or direct evidence and are based on his speculation. The al
Health Feedback→ Dozens of clinical trials ongoing to investigate whether vitamin D prevents COVID-19; no firm evidence yet
REVIEW Claims that vitamin or mineral supplements, including zinc, selenium, and vitamins C and D can prevent or cure COVID-19 have circulated since the beginning of the pandemic. In late November 2020, numerous social media posts (examples here an
Health Feedback→ Dozens of clinical trials ongoing to investigate whether vitamin D prevents COVID-19; no firm evidence yet
REVIEW Claims that vitamin or mineral supplements, including zinc, selenium, and vitamins C and D can prevent or cure COVID-19 have circulated since the beginning of the pandemic. In late November 2020, numerous social media posts (examples here an
Health Feedback→ Dozens of clinical trials ongoing to investigate whether vitamin D prevents COVID-19; no firm evidence yet
REVIEW Claims that vitamin or mineral supplements, including zinc, selenium, and vitamins C and D can prevent or cure COVID-19 have circulated since the beginning of the pandemic. In late November 2020, numerous social media posts (examples here an
Truth or Fiction?→ How to Fight Disinformation — Part I: Firehosing
This is part of an ongoing series about how communities can fight back and protect themselves against weaponized disinformation. Any anthropologist can tell you that human lives are created, bounded, and defined by stories: the stories we tell ourselv
Health Feedback→ COVID-19 vaccine candidates are rigorously tested for safety during clinical trials, unlike thalidomide; misleading to equate the two
REVIEW The relatively short timeline in which COVID-19 vaccine candidates have reached the advanced stages of clinical trials have led many members of the public to express concerns about their safety. Following the announcement of the U.K.’s appr
FactCheck.org→ Flawed Analysis Leads to False Claim of ‘No Excess Deaths’ in 2020
Quick Take An economics professor’s flawed interpretation of U.S. mortality data has prompted a viral, false claim that COVID-19 hasn’t led to more deaths than normal this year. In fact, multiple analyses have found there to be a higher-tha
Truth or Fiction?→ Do Squirrels Land Like Superheroes When They Jump?
The “science of cute” collided with animal behavioral science on social media in a major way after a post about squirrels went viral. “The best thing I’ve learned this week is that when squirrels fall/jump — they land like su
Snopes→ Phishing Ploy Targets COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Effort
The precision targeting and careful efforts to leave no tracks bore "the potential hallmarks of nation-state tradecraft,” said IBM security researchers.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Searches For Vaccines For HIV, Cancer, The Cold And COVID-19 Each Present Distinct Challenges
Did researchers develop a vaccine for COVID-19 in a year, while vaccines for HIV, cancer and the common cold remain elusive? Yes, but it's not an apples-to-apples comparison. The diseases are different from one another, which means that t
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Masks, Gloves, Vaccines, And Synthetic Hand Soaps Do NOT Suppress Your Immune System
Do masks, gloves, vaccines, and synthetic handsoaps suppress human immune systems? No, that's not true: Public health experts and medical research say the opposite is the case and the claims were made with no evidence in a meme that sprea
Health Feedback→ No evidence that COVID-19 vaccines cause more severe disease; antibody-dependent enhancement has not been observed in clinical trials
SUMMARY A Facebook post claiming that the COVID-19 vaccine will lead to more severe disease, was published in November 2020 and went viral on the social media platform. Similar claims have also been published in other social media posts, like this o
Full Fact→ Better communication needed to tackle gaps in understanding of economic statistics
Economic measures affect our lives in many ways. They can impact how much tax you pay, how much it costs to take out a loan, and how much financial support job seekers receive—to name just a few. But research published today—to which Full F
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘More People Have Died of Suicide This Year Than Corona’
On November 24 2020, a post on Reddit-clone TheDonald.win asserted that in 2020, “more people died of suicide this year than corona,” embedding the following tweet: Part one. pic.twitter.com/q5sNVq21GE — Dr. Ben Tapper (@DrBenTapp
Full Fact→ Danish study on mask efficacy only tells us half the story
An article in the Spectator by Professor Carl Heneghan and Tom Jefferson from the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine claimed that a new study from Denmark shows that wearing face masks “does not significantly reduce the rates of [Covid-19]
Full Fact→ Research suggesting increased Covid-19 risk for dog-owners may be barking up the wrong tree
“They’re known as ‘man’s best friend’, but if you live with a dog, you may unknowingly be increasing your risk of coronavirus.” Daily Mirror, 17 November 2020. “Walking your pet dog may raise your risk of cat
Truth or Fiction?→ How to Fight Disinformation: Introduction and Overview
This is the first of a series about how communities can fight back and protect themselves against weaponized disinformation. In 2015 and 2016, new and paranoid strains of political ideology took social media discourse by storm. The details varied by c
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Statistics Show COVID-19 Is NOT ‘The Greatest Hoax Ever Perpetrated On An Unsuspecting Public’ And Is NOT ‘Just Another Bad Flu’
Is Canadian pathologist Dr. Roger Hodkinson correct when he asserts that COVID-19 is "the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on an unsuspecting public" and "just another bad flu"? No, neither of those claims is true: Data from the CDC show th
Health Feedback→ Danish face mask study did not show that masks were ineffective at reducing spread of COVID-19; study was underpowered and results were inconclusive
REVIEW Several reports on the findings of a face mask study conducted in Denmark[1], which was published in the scientific journal Annals of Internal Medicine, went viral on Facebook within a day of publication, receiving a total of more than 18,000
Health Feedback→ Article claiming that “masks don’t work” misleads readers by inaccurately interpreting a withdrawn study and a published study conducted on U.S. Marine Corps recruits
REVIEW This article, written by Daniel Horowitz and published by The Blaze on 16 November 2020, claims that “masks don’t work.” To support its claim, it cites the withdrawal of a preprint (a study that has not yet been peer-reviewed or publish
Full Fact→ The infection fatality rate for Covid-19 is higher than 0.1%
In a now-deleted tweet, writer and commentator Toby Young claimed that a study reported in the Daily Mail shows that Covid-19’s infection fatality rate (IFR) is 0.1%, a figure comparable to seasonal flu. This tweet incorrectly cited the stu
Truth or Fiction?→ Trump Defeat Denialists Use Facebook to Promote ‘MAGA Marches’
Events and groups denying the defeat of outgoing United States President Donald Trump continue to fester on Facebook in November 2020 — despite the platform taking action following a report by activist group Avaaz. We discovered at least one gro
Health Feedback→ Wearing face masks helps reduce the spread of COVID-19, but it only confers partial protection and should be combined with additional public health measures
REVIEW An article published by The Federalist on 29 October 2020 claims that face masks are ineffective at reducing the spread of COVID-19. In support of its claim, the article cites several scientific studies and shows 12 graphs comparing COVID-19
Health Feedback→ A rise in the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths starting in September 2020 contradicts the claim by Michael Yeadon that “the pandemic is fundamentally over in the U.K.”
REVIEW This video by talkRADIO, a national talk radio station in the U.K., was uploaded to YouTube on 5 November 2020 and went viral on Facebook, receiving more than 93,000 views. The video features a conversation between talk show host Julia Hartle
Full Fact→ Researching bad information: what we learned in 2020
In 2019, Africa Check, Chequeado and Full Fact embarked on a year-long research project to get to the bottom of many key questions we ask ourselves as fact checkers. During this period, we published 11 briefings, covering burning issues for the f
Health Feedback→ Claim that mouthwash could reduce the spread of COVID-19 has not yet been confirmed by clinical trials in humans in
REVIEW Articles such as this one claiming that “mouthwashes could help curb COVID-19” circulated on social media in October 2020, receiving more than 27,000 interactions on Instagram and Facebook in one week according to the social media analyti
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: COVID Virus NOT Man-made And Vaccine NOT Forced On Unwilling
Is the U.S. pushing an under-tested, dangerous coronavirus vaccine on unwilling people as part of a depopulation agenda? And was the virus man-made and weaponized in U.S. and Chinese labs? No, these claims are untrue. There are no plans t
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NOT Enough Science Backing Claims That Drinking Water From Copper Cup Yields Host Of Health Benefits
Does drinking water from a copper cup provide such health benefits as regulating the thyroid gland, slowing aging, getting rid of anemia and lowering risks of heart disease and cancer? No, that is not true. Not only can high doses of copp
Snopes→ Scientists Find Madagascar Chameleon Last Seen 100 Years Ago
Researchers from Madagascar and Germany said that they discovered several living specimens of Voeltzkow’s chameleon during an expedition to the northwest of the African island nation.
Climate Feedback→ Guardian article on Arctic methane emissions claiming “a new climate feedback loop may have been triggered” lacks important context
SUMMARY This article “‘Sleeping giant’ Arctic methane deposits starting to release, scientists find” was published in The Guardian in October 2020, and has received more than 150,000 interactions on social media, according to
Health Feedback→ The percentage of excess deaths in the U.S. not directly caused by COVID-19 range from 14% to 33%; it remains unclear how lockdowns influenced excess mortality
REVIEW A claim that COVID-19 only caused two third of the excess mortality observed in the U.S. in 2020 and that lockdowns are in part responsible for the remaining third circulated in October 2020. One article containing this claim was published by
Full Fact→ Matt Hancock got the evidence about long Covid wrong
“We have two points of evidence; one is the evidence from King’s College London that shows that approximately one in 20 people with coronavirus is likely to have long-term symptoms, but the other evidence implies that in adults under 50, t
Health Feedback→ Volunteer who died in a COVID-19 vaccine trial in Brazil did not receive the vaccine
REVIEW News that a volunteer in the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine trial died was announced by the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (ANVISA) on 21 October 2020. A review by an independent committee that oversees the trial’s safety concluded that t
FactCheck.org→ FactChecking Trump’s Town Hall
In an Oct. 15 town hall on NBC News, President Donald Trump made false and misleading claims on the coronavirus, the economy and more: Trump was wrong when he said a recent study found “85% of the people who wear masks catch” the coronavirus. The
Full Fact→ Full Fact, Africa Check and Chequeado explore conspiracy theories and communicating uncertainty
The work of professional fact checkers is a constant pursuit of evidence. We take claims, trace them, and weigh them against the evidence available, in an attempt to provide the public with the best possible information conducive to an open, transparen