Were Maryland Board of Physicians officials forced to pay millions for humiliating an anti-vaccine doctor? No, that's not true: The story being shared contains outdated information. An intermediate appellate court in Maryland has overturned th
Search Results (299) for: hook
Truth or Fiction?→ Are Americans Getting Jailed for Unpaid Medical Debt?
On February 10 2020, a story about people in Kansas being jailed over medical debt spread on Facebook and Reddit: "You wouldn’t think you’d go to jail over medical bills": County in rural Kansas is jailing people over
FactCheck.org→ FactChecking the New Hampshire Democratic Debate
Summary Four days before the New Hampshire primary, seven Democratic presidential candidates debated. We found factual distortions on several issues: Former Vice President Joe Biden said Sen. Bernie Sanders “voted to give the gun manufacturers … a
FactCheck.org→ Baseless Conspiracy Theories Claim New Coronavirus Was Bioengineered
Quick Take Several online stories inaccurately claim that the new coronavirus contains HIV “insertions” and shows signs of being created in a lab. But there is no evidence that the new virus was bioengineered, and every indication it came from an a
FactCheck.org→ Super Bowl Ads from Trump and Bloomberg
The campaigns of President Donald Trump and Democrat Mike Bloomberg have purchased airtime during the preeminent TV ad event of the year: the Super Bowl. Both scheduled spots make claims that require context or further explanation. Trump’s ad sa
Truth or Fiction?→ Were an Army Veteran’s Prosthetic Legs ‘Repossessed’ After a VA and Medicare Dispute?
On January 9 2020, an article about Army veteran Jerry Holliman and the repossession of his prosthetic legs after a payment dispute between the VA and Medicare was shared to Reddit’s r/nottheonion, a subreddit for news stories odd enough to soun
Lead Stories→ Fake News: New York Democrats Did NOT Move To Register Illegal Aliens, Noncitizens To Vote
Did New York Democrats move to register illegal aliens and noncitizens to vote? No, that's not true: A state law in New York that took effect on December 14, 2019, allows undocumented immigrants to apply for driver's licenses. However, the mea
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Virginia Governor Does NOT Plan To Use Roadblocks And U.N. Troops To Seize Guns
Is the Virginia governor planning to use roadblocks and U.N. troops to seize guns? No, that's not true: Gov. Ralph Northam has not requested United Nations assistance to confiscate guns, and he has not suggested using roadblocks for weapons se
Truth or Fiction?→ Folgers ‘Incest Ad’
If you frequent internet culture sites like Reddit or Fark.com, chances are you know the “Folgers incest ad” — and if you do, you either love or hate this polarizing commercial. If you have no idea what we’re talking about, read on
Truth or Fiction?→ Are Private Prisons Suing States for Millions of Contract Quotas?
A long-popular October 2018 Facebook post continued spreading through late 2019, alleging that private prisons were suing states over unmet contract quotas promising a minimum number of profitable inmates. A status update read “SO WE JUST NOT GO
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘The Little White Envelope for the Man Who Hated Christmas’ Posts
In November 2019, a nearly year-old “Maui 24/7” post titled “THE LITTLE WHITE ENVELOPE” (alternately: “the Man Who Hated Christmas”) circulated virally on social media: Text attached to an image told a heartstri
Truth or Fiction?→ Goodstein’s ‘States of Matter’ Opening Quote
On November 15 2019, an Imgur user shared a screenshot of a tweet about the purported opening paragraph from a textbook by California Institute of Technology professor David Goodstein called States of Matter: The beginning to every book should have
Truth or Fiction?→ Conspiracy Theorist Roger Stone Is Latest Trump Associate to be Convicted
Roger Stone — a longtime ally to both President Donald Trump and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones — was convicted on November 15, 2019 on seven counts of obstruction, witness tampering, and lying to Congress. The 67-year-old self-proclaimed “d
Truth or Fiction?→ Did an Irish Suffragist Follow Winston Churchill for a Week Ringing a Bell Whenever He Tried to Speak?
In November 2019, the Facebook page “Cheerful Nihilism” shared the following meme, about historical tensions between a suffragist from Ireland named Mary Maloney and Winston Churchill: Above a black and white image of a man on a stage, a
Truth or Fiction?→ Canadian School Falsely Accused of Suspending Student Over ‘Rainbow Poppy’
A recent political candidate in Canada accused her teenage cousin’s school of suspending the girl over an item that may not even be available in their country. Cyara Bird said in a November 7 2019 Twitter post that the 17-year-old Stonewall Coll
Truth or Fiction?→ Seattle November 3 2019 False Flag Attack Rumor
Rumors of a “false flag” terror attack in Seattle on November 3 2019 spiked in popularity in specific shadowy corners of social media in late October 2019, although by that point, the highly specious claims were several weeks old. A Septem
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Nancy Pelosi Was NOT Involved In One Of The Biggest Heroin Busts
Was Nancy Pelosi involved in one of the biggest heroin busts? No, that's not true: The claim that Speaker Pelosi was involved in a massive operation to smuggle heroin into the United States from southeast Asia has no basis in fact. A published
Snopes→ 16 in Bangladesh Sentenced to Death in Girl’s Brutal Killing
The violence shook Bangladesh, triggering protests and raising concerns over the plight of women and girls in the conservative Muslim-majority nation of 160 million people, where sexual harassment and violence are often unreported.
Truth or Fiction?→ Disinformation Peddlers Push ‘October 16th’ Conspiracy Theory
A gaggle of specious blogs and social media accounts set about inflaming tensions for their followers in a set of posts reminiscent of other fake controversies. The posts center on vaguely-worded “threats” and wide-ranging military deploym
FactCheck.org→ Meme Gets Israel Gun Laws Wrong
Quick Take An old meme has resurfaced, spreading misinformation about gun laws and school violence in Israel. Full Story A meme that spread misinformation following the school shooting that resulted in 17 deaths in Parkland, Florida, in 2018 has re-e
Truth or Fiction?→ Are ‘School Shooting Hoodies’ With Faux Bullet Holes Real?
In September 2019 a Facebook user shared the following screenshots (archived here) of a since-deleted tweet, depicting three hoodies (Virginia Tech, Columbine, and Sandy Hook) and a comment — “Ok, this is a NEED”: A link to the orig
Truth or Fiction?→ Did a Man Decide to Use Drawings of ‘Cat Heads’ as His Official Signature?
On September 7 2019, Facebook user Rich Preston shared a series of screenshots telling the firsthand story of a man who purportedly used little cat head drawings as his license signature because he thought it would be funny, but regretted the decision
FactCheck.org→ FactChecking the September Democratic Debate
Summary The false and exaggerated claims in the third Democratic debate included: Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro accused former Vice President Joe Biden of “forgetting what you said two minutes ago” on Biden’s hea
PolitiFact→ Joe Biden – Biden exaggerated the percentage of Americans who favor an assault weapons ban
The Truth-o-Meter says: Mostly False | Biden exaggerated the percentage of Americans who favor an assault weapons ban Former Vice President Joe Biden exaggerated the percentage of Americans who support banning assault rifles. "Over 90% of the
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Man Does NOT Get Pistol Whipped And Raped By Homosexual Gang The ‘Sweet Bloods’
Was a man pistol whipped and raped by a homosexual gang known as the "Sweet Bloods" in Atlanta? No, that's not true: It is a false claim recycled by trash publishers over the past several years. Still, social media users continue to share the
Snopes→ Michigan to Become 1st State to Ban Flavored E-Cigarettes
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer moved to make her state the first to ban flavored electronic cigarettes, accusing companies of using candy flavors and deceptive advertising to “hook children on nicotine.”
Truth or Fiction?→ Has Denmark Offered to Buy the United States From Russia?
In the later days of August 2019, the Trump administration presented a dizzying array of outrageous claims and proposals, one of which appeared to capture the hearts and minds of American reporters completely for several days — a pitch to buy Greenl
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Obama And HR4310 Did NOT Make It Legal For The Media To Lie To The American People (It Always Was…)
Did Barack Obama quietly sign into law HR 4310 in 2012 that made it legal for the media to purposely lie to the American people? No, that's not true: HR 4310 was the authorization act for Pentagon funding in 2013 and included many provisions t
FactCheck.org→ Trump’s Mixed Record on Gun Control
When asked what he was going to do about the “gun problem,” President Donald Trump responded that “we have done much more than most administrations.” Trump has taken some action to strengthen federal gun control, but his administration
FactCheck.org→ President Trump’s Rhetoric
Prior to departing for visits to El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, on Aug. 7, President Donald Trump rejected the premise that his rhetoric has divided the country, as his critics have claimed. He said “my rhetoric … brings people together.
PolitiFact→ No proof prescription drugs fuel mass shootings
Psychiatric drugs are a common culprit as people search for answers following horrific violence. But experts say there is no credible research linking medications to mass shootings. The unproven claim has different variants, but they share an assertion
Truth or Fiction?→ Can Only People Under 40 Hear This Sound?
In July 2019 a number of posts circulated Facebook, all of which linked to video of a 15000 Hz/15 kHz frequency sound that is purportedly only audible to people younger than 40. One iteration (archived here) accrued a large number of shares. Its origi
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Norfolk Man Story About 9/11, Retired NYFD Father And Pregnant Wife Is NOT Real
Is a story from someone named "Robert Matthews" about the events on September 11, 2001 real? No, that's not true: the fantastic story from a radio listener supposedly from Norfolk, Virginia contains several things that are verifiably untrue. D
FactCheck.org→ A False Claim About H.R. 8 and a ‘Firearms Registry’
Quick Take A viral meme falsely accuses five House Republicans of voting with Democrats to create a “firearms registry.” The bill in question specifically prohibits “the establishment, directly or indirectly, of a national firearms re
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Ross Perot Did NOT Leave $100 Million to the Trump 2020 Campaign
Did Ross Perot leave $100 million to the Trump campaign after he passed away on July 9, 2019? No, that's not true. The story was published by a liberal satire website that tries to educate gullible Trump supporters and Republicans about the ne
Lead Stories→ Fake News: President Trump Did NOT Say "I Will Pay For July 4 Parade Out Of My Own Pocket"
Did President Donald Trump say he will pay for the entire July 4 parade in Washington out of his own pocket? No, that's not true. The story was published by a liberal satire website that tries to educate gullible Trump supporters and Republica
Lead Stories→ Fake News: Mermaid Enthusiast NOT Accidentally Harpooned to Death By Local Fishermen in Philippines
Was American tourist Andrew Stevens harpooned to death by fishermen in the Philippines while wearing a mermaid costume? No, that's not true: the story was made up by a Canadian entertainment website that makes a living by publishing fictional
Truth or Fiction?→ Dr. Seuss ‘Foreign Children’ Comic
In June 2019, the following meme featuring a quote by a Fox News personality and a purported comic by Dr. Seuss on “foreign children” circulated on social media: At the top of the meme was a screenshot of Fox News’ Fox & Friends
Truth or Fiction?→ Dr. Seuss ‘Foreign Children’ Comic
In June 2019, the following meme featuring a quote by a Fox News personality and a purported comic by Dr. Seuss on “foreign children” circulated on social media: At the top of the meme was a screenshot of Fox News’ Fox & Friends
Lead Stories→ Fake News: NO Pelosi Letter to Iran: ‘Trump Will Be Out By Next Year’
Did Nany Pelosi send a letter to Iran saying that "Trump will be out by next year"? No, that's not true: The story was published by a liberal satire website that tries to educate gullible Trump supporters and Republicans about the need to actu