SciCheck Digest Clinical and real-world studies have shown that the COVID-19 vaccines are effective in preventing serious disease, and there is a long history of vaccine requirements in the U.S. But a list of bogus claims, shared around the world in re
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Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Daguerreotype Is NOT Abraham Lincoln — Who Was NOT A Runaway Slave
Is this a picture of Abraham Lincoln, who was a runaway slave who changed his identity to avoid being lynched? No, that's not true: The man pictured is an unidentified person who sat for a portrait by Augustus Washington, a daguerreotypis
Truth or Fiction?→ James Hemings and Macaroni and Cheese
A viral February 4 2022 Facebook post crediting chef James Hemings (brother to Sally Hemings) with the invention of macaroni and cheese consisted of the following tweet, published on February 1 2022: Chef James Hemings was the first American classic
FactCheck.org→ Facebook Post Misleads on NIH’s Position on Ivermectin
SciCheck Digest The National Institutes of Health has not recommended and the Food and Drug Administration has not approved ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment. But a Facebook post misleadingly implies that an article published on the NIH website is an
FactCheck.org→ Biden Repeats False Claims at Gun Violence Meeting
In remarks at a Feb. 3 gun violence prevention task force meeting, President Joe Biden repeated claims about gun rights and gun manufacturing that fact-checkers have previously found to be false. Biden said when the Second Amendment passed, “you
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: German Tractor Convoy Was Protesting Fertilizer Ordinance NOT A Vaccine Mandate
Does this video show German farmers and truckers heading out to an anti-vaccine mandate demonstration? If you thought this had something to do with a COVID-19 vaccine mandate, that's not true: This video shows a tractor parade protest in
FactCheck.org→ Social Media Posts Use Old Video of White House Official to Make False Claim About Stimulus Checks
Quick Take Three stimulus payments have been sent to Americans to help them weather the economic impact of the pandemic. Social media posts are using a video clip of a White House official to falsely claim a fourth payment will arrive soon. But the v
FactCheck.org→ Social Media Posts Repeat Inaccurate Reporting on Ivermectin and Omicron
SciCheck Digest A Japanese company found that the antiparasitic drug ivermectin showed an “antiviral effect” against the omicron variant in a lab setting. Reuters has corrected a story in which it “misstated” that the drug was e
Full Fact→ Government websites make percentage error on National Insurance rise
The government web page which explains planned increases to National Insurance, states that contributions will increase by 1.25% from April. In fact, the rise is a 1.25 percentage point increase applied to existing National Insurance rates, not a perce
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Lockdowns Had Little To No Effect On COVID-19 Mortality But Had Devastating Effects On Society’
On February 1 2022, DailyWire.com published an article with the authoritative-sounding headline, “Lockdowns Had ‘Little To No Effect On COVID-19 Mortality’ But Had ‘Devastating’ Effects On Society.” It began: A new [in February 202
FactCheck.org→ Biden Promise on SCOTUS Nominee Not Unique
While running for president in 1980, Ronald Reagan pledged at a campaign event that “one of the first Supreme Court vacancies in my administration will be filled” by a woman, saying it’s “time for a woman to sit among our highest jurist
Full Fact→ Statistics watchdog challenges government’s ‘disappointing’ false employment claims
The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) has challenged the Prime Minister’s repeated false claims about employment statistics, responding to a letter from Full Fact. Boris Johnson and other ministers have repeatedly and misleadingly claimed th
Snopes→ Georgia DA Investigating Trump Asks FBI for Security Help
Fani Willis on Sunday wrote a letter to the FBI office in Atlanta asking for a risk assessment of the county courthouse.
Truth or Fiction?→ Calm Harm App
A December 2019 Facebook post about a self-harm prevention app called “Calm Harm” continued to circulate as of January 2022. In total, ten Tumblr screenshots were attached to the post describing the “Calm Harm” app. The original
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘The Same Executive at NBC Greenlit Fear Factor and The Apprentice, Setting an Unbelievable Sequence of Events in Motion’
On January 29 2022, the Facebook page “Millennials for Guillotines” shared a screenshot of the following tweet, which described an NBC executive who was purportedly responsible for singlehandedly changing the course of history: Lol the sa
Full Fact→ Video filmed at police station is filled with Covid-19 vaccine misinformation
A video posted on Facebook shows a campaigner demanding the police shut down Covid-19 vaccine centres and claiming there is a “live criminal investigation” into the Covid-19 vaccine programme. She also claims that vaccines have led to &ldqu
Full Fact→ Spotify must change its tune on Covid misinformation
On January 30, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek released an open letter about the platform's rules and approach to Covid-19. In response, Will Moy, chief executive of Full Fact, said: “Spotify launched an exclusive partnership with somebody who is spreading
Truth or Fiction?→ The Online Trick to ‘Send Student Loan Debt Collectors Packing’
Social media users relying on a graphic circulating online in January 2022 to hold student loan debt collectors at bay should be wary. The graphic, which surfaced in January 2022, pushes the claim that a person had “sent four student loan debt co
Lead Stories→ Context Matters: Why Lead Stories Fact Checked The BMJ
On November 10, 2021, Lead Stories published a fact check about an article published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) on November 2, 2021. In response, the BMJ published an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg on December 17, 2021, calling
Climate Feedback→ How sea ice in the Arctic and the Antarctic is influenced by climate change
With its melting sea ice, greening landscapes and rapidly warming temperatures, the Arctic region is rife with examples of how climate change is impacting the planet.[1] Arctic sea ice, in particular, is a significant climate indicator, as its downward
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Simple Comparison Of Vaxed/Unvaxed Scots’ COVID Case Rates Is NOT A Valid Measure Of Vaccine Effectiveness
Does a comparison of January 2022 case rates for the unvaccinated and the vaccinated in Scotland prove that refusing vaccination improves Scots' odds of avoiding infection, hospitalization and death from COVID-19? No, that's not true: A g
Health Feedback→ Robert Malone made multiple misleading or unsubstantiated claims about COVID-19 and vaccines on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast
REVIEW On 31 December 2021, the actor and comedian Joe Rogan interviewed (see full transcript of the interview here) the scientist Roger Malone for The Joe Rogan Experience, a Spotify-exclusive podcast. With an estimated audience of millions of peop
The Dispatch→ Fact Checking More Claims About the 2020 Election in Wisconsin
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Snopes→ Jan. 6 Committee Requests Interview with Ivanka Trump
The committee sent a letter requesting a meeting in February with Ivanka Trump, a White House adviser to her father.
Full Fact→ Met Police has not launched an investigation into the Covid-19 vaccine programme
Multiple social media posts claim the Metropolitan Police has launched a criminal investigation into the Covid-19 vaccine programme. This is not true. Some of these posts include recordings of phone calls from members of the public (with what seem to b
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Claim That Governments Kill Black People With Medicine Is NOT True — ‘Tribunal’ Hearing Claim is NOT Real Court
Did author and self-proclaimed naturopathic practitioner Robert O. Young present legitimate testimony that admits that governments are using medicine to "exterminate" Black people? No, that's not true: The International Tribunal for Natur
Truth or Fiction?→ Keanu Reeves: ‘To Me, Nature Is a Place Where You Retreat Whenever You Feel Exhausted or Sad …’
On January 12 2022, the Facebook page “Anxiety Freedom” shared the following quote meme, which attributes a quote about nature as a “retreat” from stressors to actor Keanu Reeves: Underneath a black and white photograph of Reev
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: COVID-19 Home Kits Are NOT Designed To Test Food Or Beverages
Did an orange and a lemon test positive for COVID-19? Does using a test improperly, with fruit juice rather than a nasal swab, show that home tests are unreliable and will return false positives for anything? No, that's not true: The Food
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: This Site Selling Discounted Stamps Is NOT Official US Postal Service
Is this site, which offers discounted stamps, the U.S. Postal Service? No, that's not true: A website posing as the U.S. Postal Service uses several almost-correct visual cues to masquerade as the real postal service, but does not have a
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Ronald McDonald House Is NOT ‘Evicting’ All Unvaccinated Children From Its Facilities
Is Ronald McDonald House "evicting" all unvaccinated children from its facilities? No, that's not true: Although it's true that Ronald McDonald House (RMH) British Columbia (BC) & Yukon mandates vaccinations for everyone working, visi
Climate Feedback→ More than 80 fact-checking organizations call on YouTube to tackle misinformation
More than 80 fact-checking organizations – including Science Feedback – have penned an open letter to YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, urging the company to take meaningful action to address misinformation on the platform. The letter, published
FactCheck.org→ Social Media Posts Continue to Misidentify Justice Sotomayor in Dinner Photo
Quick Take Politico misidentified Justice Sonia Sotomayor in a photo of a Jan. 7 dinner of Democrats – the same day she participated remotely in oral arguments. Politico corrected the error on Jan. 8. But social media posts continued to wrongly claim
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Scientists Do NOT Prove 93% Of People Who Died After COVID Vaccination Were Killed By Vaccine
Did scientists prove that 93% of the people who died after being vaccinated for COVID-19 were killed by the vaccine? No, that's not true: The non-peer-reviewed paper by two scientists, Dr. Sucharit Bhakdi and Dr. Arne Burkhardt, provides
Truth or Fiction?→ Campbell’s ‘Soup on the Rocks’ Ad
On January 12 2022, actor Wil Wheaton shared a purported Campbell’s “Soup on the rocks” vintage advertisement to Facebook, alongside the caption “What the actual fuck, Campbell’s”: Against an off-white background, a
Truth or Fiction?→ Fake Electors
In early January 2022, news stories and social media posts focused on “fake electors” and “fake elector letters,” an aspect of highly weaponized post-election stunts in 2020 and early 2021 that were possibly overlooked at the ti
FactCheck.org→ Jan. 6 Conspiracy Theory Centers on Baseless Claim About Ray Epps
Quick Take James Ray Epps was at the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. But there is no evidence that he was an FBI plant assigned to instigate the riot, as a conspiracy theory — embraced by at least two members of Congress — claims. There is ev
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor Was NOT Photographed With Pelosi, Schumer, Other Democrats At A Dinner On January 7, 2022
Was Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor photographed eating dinner with Democratic politicians including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on January 7, 2022? No, that's not true: Although a newsletter
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: FEMA Did NOT Forcibly Vaccinate Autistic Children In NY School — School, FEMA Denies It
Did the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) vaccinate autistic children at the Rockland Institute for Special Education (RISE), a special education school in New York, without their parents' consent? No, that's not true: Both RISE
Snopes→ We’re launching ‘OnTheIssues’ Today
Snopes kicks off election year with the launch of a newsletter to demystify/debunk politics with a focus on facts and what matters.
FactCheck.org→ FactChecking Claims About the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot
The Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol was the culmination of months of false claims about election fraud, including a litany recited by then-President Donald Trump in a speech shortly before a mob stormed the building, temporarily halting the co