On the last day of the year, we look back at the most popular articles that we posted to our website in 2021. For the second consecutive year, COVID-19 tops our list. Seven of the 10 most popular articles were about the pandemic. Here’s the list,
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The Dispatch→ Fact Check: 2021 Year In Review
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Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Omicron Variant Is NOT Spreading Faster Than Any Other Virus In History – But It Is Close
Is the omicron variant of COVID-19 spreading faster than any virus in history? No, that's not true: The omicron variant is extremely contagious but does not spread as quickly as measles, which is the most infectious virus. Dr. Claudia Hoy
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: ICC Does NOT Have A ‘Case’ Before It Concerning Crimes Purportedly Related To COVID-19 — It Has A Complaint
Does the International Criminal Court (ICC) have a "case" before it concerning serious crimes related to COVID-19? No, that's not true: Although a complaint was filed alleging crimes committed against people in the United Kingdom related
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: COVID Testing Does NOT Instantly Detect Specific Variant — Further Analysis Is Needed
When a new variant is found to be spreading, does the old variant instantly disappear? Do people test positive for specific COVID-19 variants if they take a rapid antigen or a PCR test? No, neither of these assumptions are true: The initi
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: It Is NOT ‘Odd’ That COVID-19 Vaccine Was Developed So Quickly
Is it "odd" that the COVID-19 vaccine was developed so quickly? No, that's not true: There are many reasons that explain how the vaccine was developed faster than other vaccines. Among those are that the genetic sequence of SARS-CoV-2, th
Health Feedback→ Joe Rogan interview with Peter McCullough contains multiple false and unsubstantiated claims about the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines
REVIEW The Joe Rogan Experience, a podcast hosted by actor and comedian Joe Rogan, interviewed cardiologist Peter McCullough in December 2021. During the interview, which spanned about two hours and 45 minutes, McCullough made multiple inaccurate, m
FactCheck.org→ Early Data on Omicron
As many Americans and others around the globe prepare for holiday travel and get-togethers, the omicron variant continues to be a concern. While the available data on transmission, vaccine effectiveness and severity of disease are still preliminary, he
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Female Afghan Pilot Was NOT Stoned To Death In Public — She’s Alive And In The US
Was a female Afghan pilot stoned to death in public? No, that's not true: The reports that claimed Afghanistan's second woman pilot, Safia Ferozi, was stoned to death by the Taliban came with a photograph of a different woman who was lync
FactCheck.org→ Increase in COVID-19 VAERS Reports Due To Reporting Requirements, Intense Scrutiny of Widely Given Vaccines
SciCheck Digest Expanded reporting requirements and intense scrutiny of the hundreds of millions administered COVID-19 vaccine doses have driven record reporting of potential side effects to one of the government’s vaccine safety monitoring systems.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Chef Jamie Oliver Did NOT Beat McDonald’s In Legal Battle Over Processed Beef — Not Used By McDonald’s Since 2011
Did McDonald's lose a legal battle with chef Jamie Oliver? Was it proven that lean finely textured beef treated with ammonium hydroxide was highly toxic or not fit for human consumption? No, neither are true: Oliver did not win a legal b
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO Evidence That ‘A Christmas Carol’ Character Made More Than Today’s U.S. Minimum Wage Worker
Does Bob Cratchit, a character from the Charles Dickens classic novella "A Christmas Carol" make the equivalent of $530.27 a week, which is more than the current weekly federal minimum wage in the United States? Probably not: The novella,
PolitiFact→ Facebook posts – In a sealed room, would snake plants keep you alive? Study doesn’t say that
NASA study says snake plants can produce enough oxygen for humans to live in a sealed room.
FactCheck.org→ COVID-19 Far More Lethal Than a Cold, Contrary to Suggestion in Viral Video
SciCheck Digest COVID-19 has killed more than 805,000 people in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yet a viral video on social media suggests the disease is the same as a “common cold.” COVID-19 is in the
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: CDC Does NOT Admit Vaccinated Parents Are Killing Unvaccinated Kids
Did the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention admit that parents vaccinated for COVID-19 are killing their unvaccinated children? No, that's not true: The claim is made by a non-scientist citing a paper that mixes vaccination informa
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Omicron Variant Is NOT Just Common Cold Or RSV Infection — It’s Separate And Unique
Is the CDC just calling the common cold or RSV the omicron variant? No, that's not true: The omicron variant is a mutated version of the original COVID-19 virus. While the common cold and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) are viral infect
FactCheck.org→ Facebook Post Recycles Misleading Assessment of Vulnerable and Endangered Species
Quick Take Climate change and other human-caused factors continue to put many species at risk, according to conservation groups. But a social media post misleadingly claims polar bears, whales and koala populations are “recovered” or increa
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Sailors Aboard USS Constitution Did NOT Consume Volumes of Alcohol Reported In Old Story
Do the ship's logs of the USS Constitution reveal that the sailors on board had consumed a tremendous amount of alcohol in about seven months' time from July 27, 1798, to February 20, 1799? No, that's not true: Although this story sounds
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: This Video Did NOT Prove SARS-CoV-2 Is A Bioweapon Nor That DARPA Funded Virus Gain-Of-Function Project
Did this videotape of a speaker at an anti-vaccine conference prove COVID-19 is a bioweapon created by government officials to kill Americans and put the world's people under the dominion of a globalist cabal? No, there's no evidence the
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: COVID Vaccine Spike Proteins Do NOT Enter Cell Nuclei, Suppress DNA Repair Or Unleash Cancer, Immunodeficiency, Autoimmune Disorders Or Accelerated Aging
Do COVID-19 vaccine spike proteins enter cell nuclei, suppress DNA repair, unleash cancer, immunodeficiency, autoimmune disorders or accelerated aging? No, that's not true: The claim was based on a preliminary research report from researc
Health Feedback→ The benefits of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines for children outweigh the low risks, unlike what Robert Malone claimed
REVIEW A 12 December 2021 filmed statement on the topic of vaccinating children with the COVID-19 vaccines by Robert Malone, a medical doctor and researcher, was widely shared on a number of social media platforms (see here and here); as of 20 Decem
Climate Feedback→ Demonetization of climate change misinformation on Youtube: a quick check on the implementation of Google Ads’ new policy
On Oct. 7th 2021, Google announced a change in its policy on climate change misinformation. Starting in November, any content, including YouTube videos, that ‘contradicts well-established scientific consensus around the existence and causes of climat
Health Feedback→ Ivermectin study in the city of Itajaí contains several methodological weaknesses, resulting in questionable conclusions
REVIEW The drug ivermectin has become a breeding ground for conflict during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ivermectin is a derivative of avermectin, a naturally-occurring compound discovered by William Campbell and Satoshi Omura, which won them the Nobel Pr
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: The Salvation Army Did NOT Mandate Critical Race Theory Training
Did The Salvation Army, an international Christian service organization, mandate critical race theory (CRT) training? No, that's not true: Although the organization has published resources detailing its stance on racism -- including a "Le
FactCheck.org→ Article Makes Unfounded Claims Linking Athletes’ Injuries, Deaths to Vaccines
SciCheck Digest Many U.S. athletes have been vaccinated against COVID-19 without any adverse effects. But a conservative outlet has cited a list of supposedly vaccine-injured athletes to claim “there may be something wrong with the vaccine.” There
FactCheck.org→ The Whoppers of 2021
Summary Mass rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines has been the defining story of 2021, yet for all its success, vaccination rates remain stubbornly low in some populations. As with all things in American life these days, partisanship has played an outsized
FactCheck.org→ Doctor Makes False Claim About Stillbirths in Canadian Hospitals
SciCheck Digest The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends COVID-19 vaccines for pregnant people, and the World Health Organization says the vaccines are safe for them. Yet online articles cite a Canadian doctor who falsely claims that t
Full Fact→ The FDA recalls drugs for a wide range of reasons
A Facebook post claims that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recalled 12,787 drugs and that “1,270 drugs every year that were formerly approved get recalled because they were subsequently deemed unsuitable. These drugs were pre teste
Full Fact→ What we know about the alleged Downing Street parties so far
The biggest political story of the last month has been a series of reports on parties allegedly held late last year in Downing Street and Westminster at a time when strict Covid-19 restrictions were in force. Much of the coverage so far has been based
Snopes→ Colorado Dog That Was Missing for 2 Weeks Rescued from Ledge
An animal control officer with the Humane Society anchored herself to a wooden fence and rappelled down to the dog using a mountaineering harness.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Video Game ‘Omikron: The Nomad Soul’ Was NOT Created By Bill Gates
Was a video game named "Omikron: The Nomad Soul" created by Bill Gates, and does it have any ties to the emergence of the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus? No, that's not true: Although the game was originally made to
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: COVID-19 DID Kill Only 68 Children In 2020, But Chart Omits Context: Infected Children Host And Spread The Virus
Did 67 children ages 5-14 die from COVID-19 in 2020? Yes (68, to be precise), but this chart comparing that to the much higher death tolls from traffic accidents, fires and other causes obscures the risk posed by children's infections, wh
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Stillbirths Are NOT Rampant Among Fully Vaccinated Mothers
Are stillbirths rampant among fully vaccinated mothers? No, that's not true. The claim that there is a spike in stillbirths among mothers who had received a full COVID-19 vaccine is not supported by any evidence. It was made by a doctor i
Snopes→ ‘Bah-Boom, Bah-Boom’: Acorn-Ucopia of Food Fattens Squirrels
Humans aren't the only species packing on extra pounds during the pandemic.
The Dispatch→ Did George Clooney Turn Down $35 Million to Do an Israeli Airline Commercial?
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Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Giant Skeleton Image Is NOT Real — It Was A Photoshop Contest Entry
Does a photo show that archeologists have uncovered the skeleton of a giant? No, that's not true: This picture was created in 2011 for a Worth1000.com Photoshop hoax contest called "Size Matters 4," which had a size-altering but photoreal
Full Fact→ Full Fact welcomes Joint Committee’s Online Safety Bill report—but questions on freedom of expression unanswered
Today the Joint Committee on the Draft Online Safety Bill published their report on the government’s proposed legislation, due next year. We thank the MPs, Peers, and staff who produced this important and thoughtful report in such a short t
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Japan’s Myocarditis Warnings NOT In Contrast To Worldwide COVID-19 Vaccines Warnings
Did Japanese health ministry panels of experts add myocarditis to warning labels for COVID-19 vaccines? Yes, that's true, but they are not in "stark contrast" to the rest of the world. The addition of warnings about myocarditis (inflammat
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Teachers in South Dakota Compete in a ‘Dash for Cash’ Event?
A reporter’s account of a “Dash For Cash” promotion in South Dakota in December 2021 unintentionally turned into a glimpse at something more dystopian. Annie Todd of the Sioux Falls Argus Leader newspaper documented the contest, hoste
Full Fact→ No evidence asylum seekers have used pets to argue against deportation
Article Eight expresses a right to private and family life. And what we have seen is asylum seekers, quote, they have a cat or a dog at home that constitutes their family life. And as a consequence of this, their removal from this country should be ha