Quick Take The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates nine times since 2015, so a claim circulating on social media that there were no increases during the Obama administration is wrong. Full Story The central bank raised interest rates on Dec. 19,
Search Results (1262) for: misinformation
FactCheck.org→ Story Cherry-Picks in Assessing CNN Ratings
Quick Take A story shared on Facebook uses selective TV ratings data to make the misleading claim that CNN was not one of the 10 most watched cable networks in 2018. Full Story A conservative website takes aim at CNN by misrepresenting recently releas
FactCheck.org→ Social Security Falsehood Circulates Again
Quick Take Social media posts wrongly claim Democrats voted against the Social Security cost-of-living increase for 2019. Adjustments to Social Security benefits are not decided by lawmakers. Full Story A 2.8 percent increase in Social Security benefi
FactCheck.org→ False Claim of Immigrant Children Deaths Under Obama
Q: Is it accurate that “18 children died while in custody of Border Patrol” during the Obama administration? A: No. Prior to two children’s deaths in December, it had been more than a decade since a child died while in the custody of U.S.
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Angela Merkel Did NOT Say Nation States Must Give Up Sovereignty To New World Order
Did Angela Merkel say states must give up sovereignty to the "New World Order"? No, that's not true: while Merkel did call on states to surrender some sovereignty she did not mention a "New World Order" and she stressed the importance of parli
TruthOrFiction→ How to Slow the Spread of Disinformation: A Guide for Newsrooms
Every day, a new fake story emerges with the power to affect policy or further corrode relationships, from interpersonal to international. This is corrosive disinformation, as different from garden-variety scams and hoaxes as a molehill is from a mount
FactCheck.org→ False Claim Targets Muslim Congresswomen-Elect
Quick Take Facebook posts shared by thousands of people make the unsupported assertion that “3 Muslim congress women” are refusing to uphold the Constitution. Full Story The 116th Congress, which will convene next month, will include a rec
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
FactCheck.org→ Missing the Mark on the Edwards Case
Quick Take A popular meme suggests prosecutors are applying a double standard in a campaign finance case involving President Donald Trump, but it distorts the facts of the case against former Democratic Sen. John Edwards. Full Story In 2011, a grand j
FactCheck.org→ The House That Isn’t Nancy Pelosi’s
Quick Take A $23.9 million mansion was falsely identified as Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s home in a viral meme. Pelosi actually lives in the same neighborhood in a $2.3 million house. Full Story A photo of a turreted mansion with views of San Francisco B
FactCheck.org→ Quote Falsely Tied to Ocasio-Cortez
Quick Take A viral meme mocks Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for a statement about capitalism versus socialism that she never actually made. Full Story Since her victory in the Democratic primary in New York’s 14th Congressional District in
FactCheck.org→ Ruth Bader Ginsburg Taken Way Out of Context
Quick Take In a 2012 interview with an Arabic-language television station, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg suggested that as Egypt prepared to write a new constitution, Egyptians look to more recently written constitutions than the United Sta
FactCheck.org→ Meme Spreads Bogus Pelosi Quote on Border Wall
Quick Take A long-circulating meme spreads a quote falsely attributed to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi about President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall. Full Story In the Oval Office this week, a heated (and fact-challenged) exchange unf
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→ Trump’s Hand Was Over Heart at Bush Funeral
Quick Take President Donald Trump, like others at former President George H.W. Bush’s funeral, put his hand over his heart as the casket passed. Full Story As former President George H.W. Bush’s casket passed the first pew in the Washingto
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
FactCheck.org→ No Evidence New York Legislator Died from Flu Shot
Quick Take A self-described “alternative news” story suggests the flu shot was responsible for the death of a New York state senator. The official cause of death is still pending. Full Story The weekend before Thanksgiving, New York State
TruthOrFiction→ Were ‘Bladed Weapons’ Discovered in Baguettes During Riots in France?
In December 2018, amid massive civil unrest in France, a photograph of a serrated knife hidden in a baguette appeared on social media with a quip that it showed “bladed weapons confiscated from rioters” by Paris police. As of December 6 the
FactCheck.org→ Bogus Kurt Russell Quote Strikes Again
Quick Take A viral meme falsely attributes a quote supportive of President Donald Trump to movie star Kurt Russell. The actor’s representative has debunked it before. Full Story A number of similar pro-President Donald Trump Facebook pages, seem
FactCheck.org→ The Fake Clinton Quote That Won’t Go Away
Quick Take An old, bogus quote claiming that Hillary Clinton suggested in 2013 that Donald Trump should run for public office is circulating again on Facebook. It’s still not true. Full Story Even after it has been thoroughly debunked, misinform
Climate Feedback→ Climate Feedback receives Special Mention of the Jury for the Best Climate Solutions Award 2018
The Best Climate Solutions Award competition was organized by the CMCC Foundation (Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change) and co-produced with the Festival for the Earth, with the intent to reward the best initiatives to communicate about climate
FactCheck.org→ Our 15th Anniversary
FactCheck.org turns 15 years old today. Since our launch on Dec. 5, 2003, fact-checking political claims has become a worldwide phenomenon, with 162 fact-checking websites currently active, according to the Reporters’ Lab at Duke University. Jou
FactCheck.org→ Trump Didn’t Call Flu Shot a ‘Scam’
Quick Take President Donald Trump did not call the flu shot a “scam,” as is being claimed by a number of widely circulated blog articles. Full Story An article appearing on several websites falsely claims that President Donald Trump once
FactCheck.org→ The Caravan, the CDC and a False Flight
Quick Take The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is not flying sick migrants from the caravan into the country, as a story that originated on a self-proclaimed “alt-news” website claims. Full Story A viral story shared on social m
FactCheck.org→ Hate Crimes Hotline Headline Is Wrong
Quick Take A popular website that spreads misinformation and conspiracy theories has twisted old news about a hate crimes hotline to create a bogus, anti-Muslim headline. Full Story In June 2017, Minneapolis opened a new hotline for reporting hate cri
FactCheck.org→ Viral Posts Misinform on McCarran-Walter Act
Quick Take The 1952 McCarran-Walter Act codified immigration policies. It doesn’t bar “Muslims from holding public office,” as social media posts erroneously claim. Full Story When the Trump administration announced its controversi
FactCheck.org→ Bloody Border Patrol Photo is Five Years Old
Quick Take No border patrol officers were seriously injured in an encounter with migrants on Nov. 25, but a 2013 photo circulating online falsely claims to show a recently injured officer. Full Story On Nov. 26, President Donald Trump incorrectly said
FactCheck.org→ Holiday Hoax About Obamas Resurfaces
Quick Take The Obamas kept with tradition by displaying a Nativity scene in the White House for Christmas — contrary to what a viral falsehood claims. Full Story Holiday traditions have a way of carrying on for many years. The same might be said
FactCheck.org→ Bogus Meme Targets Red Cross
Q: Is the American Red Cross “not helping California wildfire victims” but helping members of the “caravan”? A: No. The American Red Cross is helping in California, and the global Red Cross network is helping migrants from Cen
FactCheck.org→ Bad Math Leads to Bogus Voter Fraud Claim
Q: Was “voter fraud” responsible for Democratic wins in Orange County, California? A: There have been no credible complaints of voter fraud in Orange County following the midterm elections. FULL ANSWER The traditionally Republican stro
FactCheck.org→ Meme Resurrects, and Distorts, 2009 Airport Scuffle
Q: Did President Barack Obama in 2009 have a journalist named Brenda Lee removed from Air Force One? A: No. Lee, a newspaper contributor, was physically removed from a press area outside the aircraft in Los Angeles — before Obama arrived. FULL
FactCheck.org→ False Quote Attributed to Rep.-Elect Ilhan Omar
Q: A meme circulating online attributes an inflammatory remark about white men to congresswoman-elect Ilhan Omar. Did she actually say that? A: No. The meme falsely attributes a fictitious quote to Omar. FULL ANSWER Ilhan Omar was one of the first tw
FactCheck.org→ FBI Didn’t Reach Conclusion on Kavanaugh Accusations
Q: Did the FBI issue a report that “confirms” that “none” of Brett Kavanaugh’s accusers’ stories were true? A: No. Contrary to false social media claims, the bureau did not reach any conclusion in its background inv
FactCheck.org→ Partisan Site Spins Falsehoods in Georgia Election
Q: Have provisional ballots been rejected as “duplicates” in Fulton County, Georgia? A: No. A provisional ballot labeled “duplicate” means it has been counted, not rejected. FULL ANSWER More than a week after the midterm el
WaPo Fact Checker→ Fact-checking President Trump’s wild Daily Caller interview
Election fraud, the Mueller investigation, the midterm elections and the Affordable Care Act — there were a lot of subjects subject to presidential misinformation in Trump's interview with the Daily Caller.
TruthOrFiction→ Facebook Spread Fake News, Hired ‘Trackers’ to Smear Critics
In mid-November 2018, the New York Times published a bombshell report about Facebook that convulsed both traditional and social media. The beleaguered site has been at the center of scandal after fake news scandal from the mass displacement and genocid
FactCheck.org→ California Shooting Prompts ‘Crisis Actor’ Conspiracy
Q: Was Susan Orfanos, the mother of a shooting victim in Thousand Oaks, California, also interviewed by news outlets after other mass shootings in 2016 and 2017? A: No. A Facebook post misidentifies two other women as Orfanos. FULL ANSWER Followi
FactCheck.org→ FBI Didn’t Clear Michael Flynn
Q: Was former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn recently cleared by the FBI in the Russia probe? A: No. A website makes that claim based on an outdated news story that was published prior to Flynn pleading guilty to making false statements t
FactCheck.org→ Misleading Meme Pits Acosta Against ‘Neo Nazi’
Q: Did a “neo Nazi” leader get a meeting at the White House while CNN’s Jim Acosta was banned? A: No. Patrick Casey, head of Identity Evropa, went on a publicly available tour of the White House and posted pictures of it on Twitter.
FactCheck.org→ Meme Misleads on Benefits of Illegal Immigration
Q: Does the U.S. provide medical insurance and voting rights to immigrants in the country illegally? A: No. A viral meme misrepresents what such immigrants are entitled to in the U.S. FULL ANSWER A viral meme on Facebook criticizes the U.S. for sup