As awareness of unprecedented wildfires hitting rainforests in the Brazilian Amazon spread online in August 2019, social media users began drawing links between the blazes and a court victory for an indigenous Ecuadorian tribe weeks earlier. On July 1
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FactCheck.org→ Instagram Hoax Nabs Rick Perry
Quick Take A thoroughly debunked hoax claiming that Instagram users can stop the platform from using their pictures if they post a statement rescinding permission has been circulating again. This time, it ensnared a member of the Trump administration.
FactCheck.org→ Viral Quote Falsely Attributed to McCarthy
Quick Take Social media posts erroneously attribute a quote to House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy. He didn’t say that “there are no mass shootings in Japan because there are no video games there.” Full Story In the days after th
Truth or Fiction?→ Instagram Copyright Hoax
A recurring online hoax spread even further on August 20 2019, when a wave of high-profile people posted a fake, long-debunked notice about Instagram’s terms of use that eventually ended up on Secretary of Energy Rick Perry’s Instagram ac
PolitiFact→ Celebrate with us. PolitiFact turns 12!
Twelve years ago, PolitiFact started as a one-of-a-kind idea that no one was sure would work. Full-time fact checkers covering the presidential election through an online, database-driven website. People couldn't say our name, and politicians
Lead Stories→ Fake News: NOT Breaking News, NO Mass Shooting By 32-year Old Man Thwarted By Police In Different Cities
Did local police foil an attempted mass shooting by Scott Mason, aged 32? No, that's not true: the same story has been reposted several times with different location details by a website that is part of a known network of fake news sites. Acco
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Malcolm X’s Daughter Did NOT Say "My Dad Would Be Ashamed Obama Was Our President"
Did Rosanna Blake say 'My Dad Would Be Ashamed Obama Was Our President' and was she the daughter of Malcom X? No, that's not true: Malcom X had six daughters but none named Rosanna Blake. The story was published by a liberal satire website tha
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Rashida Tlaib NOT Overheard Saying "We Will Bring Jihhaad to America"
Was Rashida Tlaib overheard saying she would bring "Jihhaad" (not "jihad", important difference...) to America? No, that's not true. The story was published by a liberal satire website that tries to fool Trump supporters and Republicans into s
FactCheck.org→ O’Rourke on Jobs ‘No One Else Will Do’
Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke said workers living in the U.S. illegally who were swept up in immigration raids at chicken processing plants in Mississippi are “doing a job that no one else will do.” The jobs are hard and don’t
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Prince Andrew NOT Put On Suicide Watch
Was Britain's Prince Andrew put on suicide watch to protect the reputation of the Royal Family? No, that's not true: the story was put out by a satirical website but many people fell for the headline because the satire disclaimer on the site i
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Posting An Instagram Picture With Legal Gibberish DOES NOT Modify Your Agreement With Instagram In Any Way
Do you need to post a status update with some legal gibberish on your Instagram feed to prevent the Facebook (the company that owns Instagram) from using your pictures, information, messages or posts? No, that's not true: what Facebook can do
Truth or Fiction?→ Nick Hinton 2012 Thread
A rather nihilistic rumor — that all of humanity died in 2012, and that this is all either a shared hallucination or the afterlife — was not new in late July 2019, but the theory went viral on social media after Twitter user Nick Hinton (@nickhin
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Trump Did NOT File Lawsuit To Deport George Soros
Did President Trump file a lawsuit to have George Soros deported from the country? No, that's not true. The story was published by a liberal satire website that tries to fool Trump supporters and Republicans into sharing made up stories that a
FactCheck.org→ Williamson Misleads on Children’s Health, Vaccines
In a July 31 television interview, Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson inaccurately implied there might be a connection between vaccines and higher reported rates of childhood chronic diseases. Williamson is correct that reported rate
Truth or Fiction?→ Did University of Findlay Students Discover a Chemical Compound that Kills Glioblastoma?
On August 18 2019, Facebook page “Smooth AF” shared a screenshot of a tweet claiming that University of Findlay students had discovered a chemical compound that “kills glioblastoma cells”: At the top of the image was an August
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Number Of People Killed By Illegal Immigrants In 2018 Does NOT Equal 83,211
Were 194 people killed in mass shootings in the United States in 2018, while the number of those killed by illegal immigrants was 83,211? No, that's not true: Both numbers are wrong, but the number of purported murders by undocumented people i
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Dick’s Sporting Goods Lose $150 Million After Reducing Gun Sales?
On August 15 2019 the following meme (archived here) was shared to social media platforms: White text across a purple background read: Dick’s Sporting Goods CEO: We lost $150M in sales since we stopped selling guns. We still don’t regre
Lead Stories→ Fake News: NO 22 Tons of Pig Meat Sold As Halal to Muslims in China
Were Muslims in China sold 22 tons of pig meat as halal? No, that's not true: a story to that effect is actually a mixture of two different events that happened years apart in two different locations in China. One story involved some pork bein
Lead Stories→ Fake News: NO New Jersey Brother And Sister Allowed To Marry After 10-year-long Court Battle
Did a court allow New Jersey siblings James and Victoria Banes to marry after a ten year court battle?No, that's not true: the story was made up by a Canadian entertainment website that makes a living by publishing fictional stories often invo
Truth or Fiction?→ Do an Average of 22 United States Military Veterans Kill Themselves Every Day?
While seeking to boost awareness and help toward United States military veterans, a long-standing online claim and the various graphics promoting it are based on some misreporting of data regarding veteran suicide rates. The claim often states that on
Truth or Fiction?→ Is Facebook Ending Group Chats?
Around mid-August 2019, Facebook group posts about a purported end to Messenger group chat on August 22 began circulating: In the above post, the first paragraph stated: 💥 Attention Facebook Group owners:💥 the ability for you and/or your Grou
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Posting A Facebook Status With Legal Gibberish DOES NOT Modify Your Agreement With Facebook In Any Way
Do you need to post a status update with some legal gibberish on your Facebook wall to prevent the company from using your pictures, information, messages or posts? No, that's not true: what Facebook can do with your information is stipulated
Lead Stories→ Fake News: NO New York City Petition to Rename Landfill After Donald Trump With Over 3 Million Signatures
Did a New York City petition to rename a landfill after President Donald Trump get over three million signatures? No, that's not true: the story was put out by a satirical website and after it went viral many on social media believed or wished
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Walmart And Several Police Departments DENY Shooting Threat Rumors Are Real
Did police warn against going to Walmart this weekend because of shooting threats? No, that's not true: several police departments and a Walmart spokesperson denied there is any substance to the story which seems to be entirely based on messag
FactCheck.org→ Meme Inflates Rise in Congressional Salaries
Quick Take A viral meme on Facebook falsely claims that members of Congress have received a “231%” increase in pay in the last 30 years. Automatic cost-of-living adjustments have resulted in an increase of 94.4% from 1989 to 2009. Full St
FactCheck.org→ U.S.-Japan Trade Deficit Not ‘Changing Rapidly’
In Pennsylvania, President Donald Trump falsely claimed that the trade deficit with Japan is “changing rapidly.” In fact, the U.S. deficit in goods and services with Japan is up slightly under Trump. The president made his remarks at a Shel
Truth or Fiction?→ Were Protesters of American Immigration Policies Hit by a Truck and Injured in Rhode Island?
On August 15 2019, Facebook posts (sometimes covered for graphic violence) appeared about an incident during which protesters at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in (Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, Rhode Island) were reported
Truth or Fiction?→ Does Costco Pharmacy Have the Least Expensive Prices and No Membership Requirement?
A long-circulating Facebook post (archived here) claims that Costco pharmacy prices are always lower than other pharmacies, adding that Costco membership is not required to fill a prescription: In what appears to be Facebook commentary added to a
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Viral Photo Does NOT Show Brett Kavanaugh Drunk On Couch In 1982
Is this a real photo of Justice Brett Kavanaugh asleep on a couch holding two beer bottles in 1982? No, that's not true: the image is a stock photo from a photographer based in Ireland and depicts a model. Here is the image in question: The i
FactCheck.org→ The Epstein Connections Fueling Conspiracy Theories
Summary In the absence of information about how sex offender Jeffrey Epstein managed to die in prison by an apparent suicide on Aug. 10, outlandish conspiracy theories have cropped up across the political spectrum. Among the more prominent theories
Truth or Fiction?→ Does Video Show Police Spraying Fake Blood on Themselves During a Philadelphia Shooting?
On August 15 2019, the conspiracy-oriented Facebook page “True News 4 U’s” shared a video (archived here) of police officers in Philadelphia purportedly spraying “fake blood” on themselves in the aftermath of a shooting.
FactCheck.org→ Biden Misleads on Top 1% Tax Rate
The top 1% of taxpayers, on average, pay a higher effective tax rate than middle-income people, contrary to a claim Joe Biden made on the campaign trail. As a result of a low tax rate for capital gains earned by many wealthy Americans, Democratic presi
FactCheck.org→ Harris Wrong on Autoworker Jobs
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris wrongly claimed that “as many as 300,000 autoworkers may be out of a job before the end of the year.” That’s a high-end estimate for total job losses — not solely among autoworkers
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Sam Hyde Is NOT The Shooter In Nicetown, Philadelphia
Is the suspect in the ongoing active shooter situation in Nicetown, Philadelphia a right wing extremist named Sam Hyde? No, that's not true: every time a shooting happens certain online trolls start blaming the comedian for it in a weird in-jo
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Pedophile Priest Who Raped 200 Children NOT Forgiven By Pope Francis
Did Pope Francis forgive a priest who raped 200 children and did this enable the priest to abuse more children? No, that's not true: the priest mentioned in the story died in 2005 and Francis only became Pope in 2013. The story offers no proof
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Keanu Reeves (or Russell Crowe) Did NOT Say "For Me Trump Is The Symbol Of A Successful Man And A Role Model For Every Young American"
Did actors Russell Crowe or Keanu Reeves say "For me, Trump is the symbol of a successful man and a role model for every young American, something that our nation was looking for for years. I don't think that America will again have a leader l
Truth or Fiction?→ Is the Trump Administration Rewriting the Statue of Liberty’s Poem?
On August 13 2019, a number of news outlets ran headlines such as “Trump official revises Statue of Liberty poem to defend migrant rule change” and “Cuccinelli edits Statue of Liberty poem to defend new rule,” leading some read
Truth or Fiction?→ A Million Seconds Ago Was July 24th, a Billion Seconds Ago Was 1988?
Around August 5 2019, a text meme began circulating on social media comparing a “million” to a “billion” by pointing out that a million seconds prior was the month before (specifically, July 24) and a billion seconds prior was
FactCheck.org→ Obama Hasn’t Called For ‘All-Out Gun Confiscation’
Quick Take A headline circulating on partisan websites distorts former President Barack Obama’s tweet advocating stricter gun laws in the wake of the most recent mass shootings. Full Story Former President Barack Obama posted a statement on Twi
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Manhattanites Start a Petition to Change Part of 5th Avenue to ‘Barack Obama Avenue’?
An August 10 2019 tweet by @donaldmackenz30 asserted that New Yorkers (or, more specifically, Manhattanites) dislike United States President Donald Trump so much that they created a petition proposing that the stretch of 5th Avenue between 56th and 5