Quick Take An online conspiracy theory falsely claims that Democratic leaders coordinated the June attacks on two oil tankers and a U.S. drone and that President Donald Trump caught them in the act. The Trump administration has placed the blame squarel
Search Results (1645) for: proof
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Antifa Has NOT Killed 16 People
Is the left-wing, anti-fascist protest movement known as "Antifa" responsible for the deaths of at least 16 people? No, that's not true: Despite the claims being made by Gavin McInnes, the far-right founder of the Proud Boys, a hate crime trac
Lead Stories→ Fake News: State Of The Union Guests Were NOT Wearing "Q" Flag Pins
Did several guests at the recent State of the Union wear American flag pins with the "Q" logo on them? No, that's not true: While supporters of the so-called QAnon conspiracy theory claimed that several guests were wearing "Q" flag pins, we en
Lead Stories→ Fake News: New Hampshire Democrats Are NOT Encouraging Voter Fraud By Nonresidents
Are New Hampshire Democrats encouraging out-of-state residents to commit voter fraud, telling nonresidents they can vote in New Hampshire and remain nonresidents? No, that's not true. Some ultra-conservatives got upset after a Democratic activ
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Former FBI Director James Comey NOT Implicated In Spy Ring
Did a website point to evidence implicating former FBI Director James Comey in a spy ring? No, that's not true: The story is "clickbait" and offers no documentary evidence to back up its claims. The site links to another website that has knowi
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Conservative Dinesh D’Souza NOT Dead At 58
Did conservative political provocateur Dinesh D'Souza die at the age of 58? No, that's not true: D'Souza is alive, and an article suggesting otherwise is just the latest in a long line of celebrity death hoaxes to take the Internet by storm. T
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Pope Francis Did NOT Declare Lucifer As God
Did Pope Francis declare Lucifer as God? No, that's not true: The video being shared to make the claim relied on a poor translation of Latin and has been taken entirely out of context. "Lucifer" in Latin means "morning star," "Venus," or "ligh
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Dr. Robert Gallo Did NOT Say, "We Were Forced To Create HIV To Wipe Out The African Race"
Did Dr. Robert Gallo, the scientist who helped discover HIV, say, "We were forced to create HIV to wipe out the African race"? No, that's not true: Gallo never made such a statement, and the claims are being used to defame the man credited wit
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Kobe Bryant NOT Assassinated By NBA, Big Pharma
Was Kobe Bryant assassinated by the NBA or Big Pharma? No, that's not true: This is a tasteless hoax being perpetrated by a conspiracy theorist who offered no evidence to support his accusations. The claims originated from a series of videos p
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Police Did NOT Say When They Found Kobe’s Body That Kobe Was Hugging His Daughter Gianna
Did police say that, when they found Kobe Bryant's body in the wreckage of his crashed helicopter, Bryantwas hugging his daughter Gianna? No, that's not true: The helicopter in which Bryant was flying with his daughter broke up and exploded in
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Restaurant In New York NOT Given Approval To Serve Human Meat
Was a restaurant in New York given approval to serve human meat? No, that's not true: The story is a hoax and was based on a satirical article from 2016 that has been roundly debunked. The claim originated from a video published by SABS-TECH o
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Sen. Elizabeth Warren Propose Making ‘Spreading Disinformation Online’ Illegal?
On January 29 2020, news network CNBC received some criticism for its portrayal of a policy proposal set forth by Democratic Party Sen. Elizabeth Warren the same day. The network said in a tweet that Warren, who is currently running for the party̵
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Scripps Urgent Care NOT On Lockdown; Two People In Clinics Do NOT Have Coronavirus
Was a Scripps Urgent Care in Southern California put under lockdown because it was treating two patients with the coronavirus? No, that's not true: Scripps Health has taken to social media to deny these claims, which have been made repeatedly
Truth or Fiction?→ Did JK Rowling Respond to ‘No One Should Live in a Closet’ Tattoo with ‘Yes They Should’?
On January 25 2020, Twitter user @iknownaama tweeted the following image, a purported screenshot of JK Rowling reacting to a pro-LGBT tattoo (“no one should live in a closet”) by saying “yes they should”: so did the simulatio
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Oslo Police Did NOT Declare ‘We Have Lost the City’… Islam Has Taken Over
Did police in Oslo, Norway, declare ''we have lost the city" because Islam has taken over? No, that's not true: Police in the Oslo have repeatedly disavowed the claim, saying the statement is false. The claim appears to have first surfaced in
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Patent For Coronavirus That Expired Is NOT For New Strain Killing People In China
Did a patent expire on January 22, 2020, for the "new" coronavirus, and does that prove the virus was "invented"? No, that's not true: The patent is about the SARS coronavirus, which broke out in China in 2002, not the current Wuhan City strai
Truth or Fiction?→ Harry S. Truman: ‘Socialism is a Scare Word’
In January 2020, a Facebook post from September 2019 featuring an image of President Harry S. Truman and claims in 1952 Truman said that “socialism is a scare word” continued to spread: At the top of the meme, text over an image of Trum
FactCheck.org→ Nadler’s Russia Claim
Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler went too far when he claimed that President Donald Trump “worked with the Russians to try to rig the 2016 election.” The special counsel investigation found there were “multiple contacts … between Tr
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Device Does NOT Reduce Household’s Electric Use By Up To 89.9%
Does a device help reduce a household's overall electric use by up to 89.9%? No, that's not true: The unit is a scam. The caption stated that the device "is in the sights of energy companies who want to ban it for good," but this claim cannot
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Long Lost ‘City of Giants’ NOT Unearthed In Ethiopia
Was a long lost "City of Giants" unearthed in Ethiopia? No, that's not true: There is no evidence to suggest an Ethiopian city was once inhabited by giants, and stories making the rounds online have twisted the original article's reporting. Th
Truth or Fiction?→ Online Debate Stirs Fears of a ‘Star Wars’ Disinformation Campaign
A round of rumors and criticism surrounding the new Star Wars movie series has ignited debate in what has become an ongoing discussion about disinformation pushed in pop culture fandom — but experts are split whether that label applies to a Reddi
Washington Post→ Elizabeth Warren’s false claim that the filibuster stopped immigration reform
The Senate passed a comprehensive immigration bill with a filibuster-proof majority in 2013. Warren was among the 68 senators who voted yes.
Truth or Fiction?→ Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar Pushes Digitally Altered Image of Obama with Iranian Leader
A Republican lawmaker who once inspired his family to record a statement urging constituents to vote against him and who embedded a weaponized Jeffrey Epstein meme in impeachment tweets lashed out at reporters on January 6 2020 after posting a regurgi
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Don’t Abbreviate 2020’ Warning
Beginning in early 2020, many people on social media have likely encountered a “legal warning” advising they not abbreviate the date in a month/day/year (or day/month/year) format in 2020, thanks to the purported ability of all and sundry
Truth or Fiction?→ Detainee Trying to Feed Her Baby or ‘The Nativity 2019’?
On December 24 2019, a photograph shared to Twitter circulated with the claim that it showed “a detainee trying to feed her baby,” heavily implying that the image showed victims of the Trump administration’s family separation policy
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Adam Schiff Did NOT Pay Witnesses Over $40 Million To Testify Against Trump
Did House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff pay witnesses over $40 million to testify against Trump? No, that's not true: the story comes from a satire website, there is no evidence that such a payment took place and the people refer
Truth or Fiction?→ Canadian Conservative Leader’s Resignation Follows String of Public Falsehoods
The leader of Canada’s Conservative Party resigned his position on December 12 2019 after he was accused by party members of misusing their group’s money to pay for his children to attend private schools. According to Global News, senior C
FactCheck.org→ Another Dubious Trump Attack on ‘Fake News’
President Donald Trump accused CNN of manipulating video to make it appear that “massive crowds” protested his decision to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Trump called it “fake news as usual,” but we couldn’t
FactCheck.org→ Trump Misleads Rallygoers on IG Report, Impeachment
During his first campaign rally after Democrats announced two articles of impeachment and the Justice Department inspector general released a report on the FBI’s Russia investigation, President Donald Trump distorted the facts on both topics. Th
PolitiFact→ Ask PolitiFact: Does a video show Joe Biden confessing to bribery? No
A reader asked, "How come Joe Biden is on film bragging about getting the Prosecutor investigating Burisma fired and fact check says there is no proof of that? Look at the film." House Republicans have also focused on a video of then-vice pre
Truth or Fiction?→ Do You Need to Remove Barcodes from Donated Toys Because People Exchange Them for Cigarettes and Beer?
On December 9 2019, a number of news outlets published a syndicated article with the headlines “Donating Toys This Holiday Season? You Might Want to Remove the Barcode,” or, alternately, “Remove The Barcode If You’re Donating
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Mike Pence Use ‘Mulan’ to ‘Prove’ Women Should Not Be in the Military?
Hours before Disney released the first trailer for a live-action adaptation of the film Mulan, social media users marked the occasion by recalling United States Vice President Mike Pence’s attack on the movie during his days as a member of the
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Leaked Pentagon FunVax Video Does NOT Show Flu Vaccine Used To Modify Human Behavior
Does a leaked Pentagon video show that a flu vaccine was used to modify human behavior? No, that's not true: The video that was purportedly recorded in 2005 and "leaked" from the Defense Department was apparently produced in 2011 as a promotio
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Has Anyone Had to Give Back the Security Deposit?’ Landlord Round Table Facebook Group Post
On November 20 2019, a Twitter user posted an unredacted apparent screenshot from the Facebook group “Landlord Round Table,” in which an original poster appeared to ask fellow landlords if any of them ever had “to give back the secu
Truth or Fiction?→ Trump Regurgitates ‘Crowdstrike’ Conspiracy Theory in Call to Fox News
United States President Donald Trump called into a Fox News program on November 22 2019, spending nearly an hour pushing an already-debunked conspiracy theory that was also refuted during the congressional impeachment inquiry against him. During his c
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Democrats Spent $40,000,000 of YOUR Tax Dollars Trying to Impeach Trump’ Posts
On October 28 2019, a Facebook user shared the following status update (archived here), claiming that Democrats spent $40,000,000 in an attempt to impeach United States President Donald Trump: White text against a purple smoke background ass
PolitiFact→ Fact-checking the fifth Democratic presidential debate in Atlanta
The impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump and nationwide voter suppression were center stage during the fifth Democratic presidential debate in Atlanta. The debate, which was hosted by MSNBC and the Washington Post, opened with clash
FactCheck.org→ Social Posts Distort Facts on Political Relationships
Quick Take Social media posts falsely claim that California Gov. Gavin Newsom is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s nephew, and that Rep. Adam Schiff has a sister who is married to the son of George Soros. It also falsely states that a daughter of form
Truth or Fiction?→ Scary Movie ‘I See White People’ Mandela Effect
Among the nooks and crannies of the internet lurk new generations of paranormal stories, rumors of alternate universes, and shared institutional memories that are presented as proof of parallel timelines bleeding into one another in a broader theory p
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Students Today Depend on Paper Too Much, Don’t Know How to Write on a Slate’ 1815 Quote
In November 2015, Facebook page “The Credible Hulk” shared the following screenshot purportedly showing a lament from an 1815 school principal’s publication suggesting the students of the day had grown too dependent on paper, and la